


IronFam Oneshots

by orphan_account



Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), The Avengers, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: 5+1 Things, BAMF Peter Parker, Bisexual James “Rhodey” Rhodes, Bisexual Peter Parker, Coming Out, Coming Outs, F/F, F/M, Gen, Genderfluid Peter Parker, Happy Hogan needs a hug, Harley Keener Needs a Hug, Harley Keener has a tragic backstory, Harley Keener is Homeless, Harley Keener-centric, M/M, Mentioned Skip Westcott, Morgan Stark Needs a Hug, Multi, Ned Leeds is a Good Bro, Nonbinary Michelle Jones, Not Team Steve Friendly, Other, Out of Character May Parker, Penny Parker - Freeform, Peter Parker Has Anxiety, Peter Parker Has Panic Attacks, Peter Parker Is Dead, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Peter Parker Writes to Tony, Peter Parker gets a puppy, Peter Parker has PTSD, Peter Parker loves Tony, Peter Parker wants to Forget, Peter goes by Parker, Peter is a Good Brother, Social Media, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, Tony Stark has a dead child, Tony Stark is Good With Kids, Tony Stark was Alcoholic, Tony Writes to Peter Parker, Trans Peter Parker, Twitter, ironfam, mentioned child abuse, not team Cap friendly, peter and morgan are siblings, supportive IronFam
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-23
Updated: 2020-04-05
Packaged: 2020-10-29 14:58:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 39,045
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20798498
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: A book of oneshots for when I don’t know what to write next. Will range from Fluffy to Angsty





	1. Contents

A list of my chapters

Chapter 1: Peter and May have a fallout, he needs help from Mr Stark.

Chapter 2: The Twitter Chapter

Chapter 3: The Rouges come back and Peter is not happy about this.

Chapter 4:Peter cant say those three words but he shows he loves them in different ways, a 5+1 fic.

Chapter 5: Genderfluid Peter Parker

Chapter 6: What happens after Tony snaps and Peters left alone without his mentor?

Chapter 7: Peter comes out and goes by the name Parker in this one!

Chapter 8: Peter has a flash back and ends up hurting Tony, he calls in backup to bring Peter back to them. 

Chapter 9: Harley has a tragic backstory and his depression gets to much for him.

Chapter 10: Peter reveals his past to Tony.

Chapter 11: During the 5 years Tony grieves for Peter Parker and Morgan tried to help.

Chapter 12: Peters life seen in letters written to Tony Stark.


	2. Contents

This was written at 12:45-1:47am. Involves domestic abuse and language. Panic attacks and also implied self harm. Also out of character Aunt May.  
Enjoy 

Peter ducked as things were thrown at him. He tried to escape from the room but it was too small. The walls felt like they were closing in on him. His senses went off as a book was thrown across the room and missed him by less than an inch. 

His eyes started to fill with tears as it happened. He looked to Aunt May as she screamed at him. Screaming about being a burden and how he was useless. 

Peter had blocked the noise out as much as possible but she was so loud. The walls were so close and his chest hurt. He needed out. He ran over to the window and looked back at May as she watched him move. 

"I'm sorry May. I'm sorry." He opened the window and jumped out. The last thing he heard was May shouting. 

"Never set foot back into this Apartment you are a disappointment, you freak," 

Peter swung around a few buildings before falling on a roof. He thought back to what happened. He had finished patrolling for the night and was heading back home. It had been 2am so he thought May was in bed. But as he opened the window he sensed her watching him. 

Turning around he spotted her on his bed staring, angry, disappointed and horrified. She started screaming about how he was putting himself in danger and everyone he saved could have died if he was stupid. Then she blamed him for Ben. Blamed him for not saving his Uncle even as Peter begged for her to listen she ignored him. 

Then it escalated. She picked up a book and threw it at him. Screaming about him being a spider she needed to squish. Then it was shoes, books, LEGO and he was hit with a Xbox controller he was working on. 

By the time he came about in the roof he didn't realize he was crying. He could hear a voice but didn't know who it was, it was close, but who was in a roof? 

He listened to the voice and heard the unmistakable voice of Karen, his AI. 

"Peter are you okay? Would you like me to phone Mr Stark?"

"I'm kay Kar, just hom- Home things." His voice struggled to get out as he tried to sit up. His head felt dizzy and his vision clouded over in darkness for a second. 

"What's the time?" He asked quietly as he watched the bust city move. 

"It is 5:34am. You have been lying here for 2hours. Mr Stark has read your vitals and has been asking for you," 

Shit. He forgot about vitals. 

"Tell him I'm okay Kar. I'll be okay." He said as he frowned slightly out to the city. He spotted crime happening and needed a distraction. 

"You ready to start again Karen?" He faked happiness in his voice to stop Karen worrying. 

"I am unsure if that is best for your mental and physical health Peter. You have lacerations and bruises from earlier. I recommend leaving this for the police." Her voice was so MJ h like Mays it hurt. She would always tell him to leave things for the police, to run in the other direction. But he couldn't. No today. Not ever. 

"You know I can't do that Karen. Let's go," Peter jumped off the roof, swinging down as he followed the bike thief. 

"Hey dude. I don't think this is yours. Like did you never learn stealing is bad?" Webbing him up and leaving the bike alone he wandered the streets looking for more help needed. 

By 9am he had gotten a cat out a tree, stopped someone from hurting themselves, and also helped a middle schooler with homework. 

He walked back to the apartments no looked in his window. May was at work. He seen her leave only a couple minutes earlier, but he doesn't think he could go in yet. But he needed to. Needed to get clothes, his phone and charger, his school work and then some money to live. 

Luckily he was the kind of person to keep a run and go back which contained enough money, and clothes for a week. He grabbed his school bag and his phone and charger. 

Leaving the room he swung up to the roof as he sat down and looked at his notifications. 

Ned, MJ, May, Tony and Bruce. 

Ned  
-Hey dude. Great save seen it on the news. But shouldn't you try sleep? 2:30am  
-Peter you okay? You're out really early. 5:56am  
-Peter? You coming to school today? I can cover for you if you want. 7:38am  
-Peter I'm worried. Are you okay? 8:45am 

MJ  
-Hey loser you okay? 7:49am  
-Peter come on. Don't ignore us please 8:50am  
-Peter I'm worried. Please message one of us. 9:25am 

May  
-Peter where are you? 12:31am  
-I swear to god. Get home right now! 1:23am  
-Peter Baby. Are you okay? 1:30am  
-Im waiting for you. You are in so much trouble young man. 2:00am  
-If I ever find you again. I swear to god you will get it. You come to my house. Take off me. Make my husband die and then lie to me? You are a fucking freak I can't believe you stayed with me. 4:36am 

Tony  
-Heyo Pete. You still okay for coming over after school later? 1:12am  
-wait why are you still out. It's past curfew? 1:15am  
-Peter? Do I need to come help you? 1:30am  
-okay so I checked with Karen. Your vitals are okay so I'm okay. Please get home soon 1:48am  
-Peter. Why are your vitals through the roof????? 2:09am  
-I need to add a way of communication in your suit. 2:10am  
-Peter I cant find your location. Did you turn it off? Karen doesn't know what's wrong 2:20am  
-Karen is keeping me updated are you okay? Need to talk about it? 3:20am  
-Peter when you get these please text me. I need to know if your okay. 3:40am  
-okay so your vitals are stable at least. But I can't find you still. Pete please 5:35am  
-I'm sending a car to yours at 11am. Please be there 8:23am 

Bruce  
-hey Peter. Can you bring your web formula later please? I want to show you something I've managed to do 5:31am  
-so i just heard from Tony you aren't answering him. Are you okay? 6:32am 

Reading the messages made Peter realize he fucked up. He sent a few to MJ and Ned saying he slept in and he hold the he in school. He deleted Mays messages then looked back at Tony's. He was worried. More then anyone else. Quickly typing a short message out he read it over. 

Sorry Mr Stark rough night, I couldn't sleep so stayed out most of it. I'm okay sorry for scaring you. 

He hit send then send a thumbs up to Bruce before looking around. It was 10:48am so Tonys car would be here soon. He couldn't be bothered getting out his suit so just stayed in it. Hoping it was Happy picking him up. 

He waited around 2 minutes until Tony replied. 

Tony  
-Pete. I've been so worried about you. We will be talking about this when you get here. 

Peter sighed. Of course they would be. Tony has been getting Karen's updates. 

"Karen. How much did you tell Mr Stark?" He asked to the AI. 

"He asked for your vitals and I gave them to him ever 10 minutes like instructed. He asked for your location however I was unable to do so as you had hacked that feature earlier. 

Oh yeah now he remembers

"Okay. Is he mad?" Peter asked his voice shy as he was scared for the answer. 

"My data says he was not made but more scared for your health. Would you like me to ask him?" Her voice was quieter. She had grown in the year she's been with Pater. Learning more. 

"No thanks Kar. I'll see him soon enough. Thanks" his voice held a sense of worry as he watched the roads. 

At around 10:58 a car pulled up at his apartment and Peter just knew it was a Stark car. 

Swinging down he stood outside and opened the door. He looked in the passenger seat and spotted Happy and smiled softly at him. As he got in he could feel someone's heartbeat. He was used to his and Happys so it was someone else's. 

Spinning his head around he spotted Mr Stark. 

"Hey Spider-Man. Thought you'd be getting out of this conversation?" Peters heart dropped. He could feel what was coming. Mr Stark was going to react like May and kick him out of the internship and take the suit back. 

In his worry Peters breathing became shallowed and he grabbed at the door to stabilize himself. 

Tony watched him as he struggled to keep calm. He didn't want to touch Peter incase it made h worse so he tried speaking to him. 

"Hey Peter. Can you hear me? I need you to breath slower. I'm scared you'll freak out." Peter had only heard a few words which made him stop. 

Mr Stark had called him a freak. He said he was scared of him and he's a freak. This is exactly what happened with May then he was kicked out of his house. He was a disappointment to everyone. He was going to die alone and no one would care. Maybe he should just kill himself. It would save so many people the pain of dealing with him. 

Tony watched as his kid started to panic more. He had obviously said something to Peter which triggered him. The only ways he knew how to help is by taking his hand and putting it on his chest. 

Peter could feel Tony take his hand from the car seats and place it on Tonys chest. He could feel the beating of his heart. The stretching of his scars and the way his lungs expanded and deflated. He tried to focus on that and nothing else. 

It had started to work. He could hear things Better the world wasn't spinning as much. His breathing was still labored but he could hear better. 

Mr Stark was talking to him. He could hear that. He could see Mr Starks face and Hand. Could smell his aftershave he had on. Could feel his heart beat. His breathing. 

"Okay Peter. It's okay you'll be okay. I need you to keep breathing with me. Just like me." He started to feel his chest hurt less. Like the hundred pound weight in it showered ever so slightly off him. 

It took at least 5 minutes for him to calm down. For him to realize he was moving in the car, he had his hand on Tony's chest with Tony's hand on top. To realize he freaked out in front of his idol and superhero. He was going to realize how much of a baby Peter was and take his suit away. Make him live in the streets for life. 

"Peter are you okay to tell me what happened or just want to sit here?" His voice was filled with concern that Peter didn't know. 

Did he want to talk about it? Did he want to tell his idol about how he fucked up and May had kicked him out? How he could have saved his uncle? 

"I just. Just wanna sit. I'm. Im sorry" he finally got out as he avoided eye contact. 

"Of course Pete. We should probably move into the tower though. It's comfier and less compact."

When he said this Peter realized how trapped he was in the car. And he hated it. Nodding quickly he opened the car door and got out. Needing to be in an open room. He looked around and seen how they were in a garage with other cars like the one he was just in. 

"This is the Stark Industries Car Garage. Any and all workers can take a car as long as they have permission from higher up and they return it in damaged whenever they are done with it. Most use it to go visit family in different states for a week or two. There is three or four floors to this," 

Peter was amazed once again at Tony's generosity. Here he was given essentially strangers his property with only two rules. He smiled weakly at his mentor and they started to walk to the elevator. 

Happy was behind them watching Peter with concern in his eyes. He had grown on Happy and he was worrying the security director. 

"Okay kid. I don't know what's happened but I think a movie day is needed. Right?" Tony asked Voice quiet as he watched Peter struggle with the lights. 

"Also Fri turn lights to sensory overload code please." As soon as Friday done this Peter eased up and Tony smiled. Peter was on edge and it confused the older man. He was used to the kid bouncing off walls talking about everything and anything. 

"Boss, Not-So Happy and Future Boss we have reached the living quarters." Fridays voice spoke quietly. Cutting out the ringing in the elevator as the Sensory Overload Code was turned on. 

"Okay Spidey. Let's get you changed and cleaned. Your room is still the exact same as last time you stayed. But Clint might have broken a vent grate. Maybe," Tony explained as he and Peter walked to his room. 

"Thanks Mr Stark. I'm going to go for a quick shower and get changed. I'll be an hour or so." Peter said quietly as he walked into his room. 

Tony felt confused. He didn't know what to do. He knew something had happened but he needed answers. And only one person could give them to him. Karen. 

"Baby Girl please can you set up all of Karen's footage frommste night and this morning. I'll watch it in my lab for an hour until Pete's ready." 

Tony walked down the stairs and I to his lab where he spotted Bruce sleeping opposite him in his lab. He dimmed the lights and left him to sit at his desk with his screen. 

"Karen's footage from the baby wheels protocol." A file was projected onto the screen and Tony hit the latest one. Once he did a screen opened on his computer. 

It opened up wit Peter lying on his back talking to Karen. 

"It's just I try to sleep but my mind wanders you know. I have bad dreams sometimes and then I don't want to sleep the rest of the night." 

Karen thinks for a second before replying. 

"Do the dreams involve anything specific or is it always different?" 

"Always the same. Trapped in the building and everyone is telling me how much of a failure I am." 

"I think you should talk to someone about this. Maybe they will be able to help you understand that it is okay to have bad dreams and to be afraid of them." The kind AI explained to Peter who was nodding. 

"Who can I tell? Mr Stark would blame himself for taking my suit. I know he does already I don't want to add anymore on. May doesn't know I'm Spider-Man. Ned would freak out and hush over how cool it was I could lift it off me and MJ would not know how to deal. I can't tell anyone except you Kar." 

Tony hates this. He hated his much the kid believed he was a burden. Thought he was a failure for having nightmares. That was the minutes Tony made plans to make a failsafe. If Peter was talking about being a burden or anything like that a notification went straight to Tony. He wasn't letting his kid believe that. 

The screen changed into one he knew. Peters apartment window. He carefully opened the window, and crawled in. He then quickly turned around and spotted May. Who wasn't looking happy. 

"What the fuck Peter. I'd this eher you've been? Out pretending to be a hero?" 

Peter slowly nodded. Scared of what was going to happen. 

"What the fuck. I let you take of me and Ben for years. Let you force us into being poor. Then you go out and pretend to be a hero. You could have killed so many people with how reckless you've been. Why do you think so many people have you? I bet you just love the attention your getting. You freak,"

May stepped closer. Making Peter shrink into himself. 

"Such a ducking freak. If your a hero why didn't you save Ben huh? Or any one else? What about the bombing? Or the ferry? Your little freak friend Iron man has to come save you. I bet you get off on that. Getting praise for nothing. No nether of mine is going to be doing that ever."

Then Tony watched as she picked up a book and threw it at Peter. He was shocked. May seemed so nice but obviously she wasn't. Tony watched as things were thrown and broken as Peter didn't even defend himself from the abuse. 

Tony watched him apologize to May and then jump out the window. He couldn't stop watching the screen in horror. He watched Peter have a panic attack as he told Karen not to call him. His kid was crying in a roof hurt and scared with no comfort. 

Tony closed the screen down and left the lab in shock. He was sitting in the couch upstairs when Peter came out his room. He sat silently in the couch a bit away from Tony just now. Both not saying anything Friday started up Star Wars. 

Around half way through the second one Peter started to shake the couch and Tony looked over. He seen Peter crying, shaking as he tried to be quiet. 

"'M sorry Mr Stark. 'M Kay." Peter lied as Tony held him. 

"Pete. It's okay to not be okay" Tony explained as he rubbed Peters back to help him calm down. 

"I don't know what to do. I don't have anywhere to live now," Peter said quietly. He wasn't sure how much Tony knew but guessed it was all of it. 

"Yes you do. Here with me and the others. You deserve to be loved Peter and I'm sorry you felt like you couldn't talk to me but I'm here for you whenever. No matter the time. Day or night. Okay?"

Tony's voice was soft, and caring. Something Peter missed. He nodded softly into Tony's shirt. 

"She didn't mean it. She was scared" Peter told Tony. His voice showed he didn't actually believe that. 

"Kid it's okay. I know it's hard but you'll be okay. I've got you now. I've got you," Tony whispered to his kid as he lay in his lap. 

"I'm scared," Peter said honestly. 

"So am I but we'll get through it together," Tony Replied with the same honesty. 

It might take a while but Peter would learn he was special and should be treated amazingly. And Tony would show him this no matter what.


	3. Twitter Chapter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Twitter and Love

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It’s been forever since I watched Civil War so some parts are gonna be wrong but I tried. Also this is a one shot because I had it in my brain so not everyone is involved. Not proof read

Peter-Man @SpideySucks

@Stark Mr Stark!!!!!! I found a pupper please can I keep her?!???

You know me @Stark 

@SpideySucks I don’t know if she’ll like it in the tower. There isn’t anywhere for her to play 

Peter-Man @SpideySucks

but @Stark she’s all alone and doesn’t have a house :(

You know me @Stark

fine you monster. We can convert a floor into a garden for her but you take care of her 

Peter-Man @SpideySucks 

thank you!!!!! Her name is Spirit after the Mars Rover! 

You know me @Stark

thats a nice name Peter. now do work 

Peter-Man @SpideySucks 

will do mr stark 

-Load More Replies-

Tiffany @iloveDnP 

that interaction between @SpideySucks and @Starks was the cutest thing ever we love that 

LanceyBoi @SpaceBoi 

@iloveDnP it was amazing. who is @SpideySucks tho??

Peter-Man @SpideySucks 

@iloveDnp, @SpaceBoi i heard you were talking about me

LanceyBoi @SpaceBoi 

@iloveDnP @SpideySucks who are you?? how do you know tony stark 

Peter-Man @SpideySucks 

@iloveDnP, @SpaceBoi well mr stark grew me in a test tube and when I teacher 16 years he released me onto twitter 

LanceyBoi @SpaceBoi 

@iloveDnP, @SpideySucks I wanna say I don’t believe that but I can’t because if anyone achieved that it would be Tony Stark 

Tiffany @iloveDnP

@SpaceBoi, @SpideySucks. Pls say that’s not true because that’s to much power for someone to have. Being made by the legend himself. @Stark confirm???!

You know me @Stark

@SpideySucks, @SpaceBoi, @iloveDnP I did not make @SpideySucks in a lab. He’s my intern and likes to confuse people. 

-Load More Replies- 

Peter-Man @SpideySucks 

I try do one funny thing and mr stark ruins it :( 

Peter-Man @SpideySucks 

also Spirit is doing good and is enjoying her new home in the tower 

Peter-Man @SpideySucks 

i shall take a photo of her when I am back in the labs with mr stark 

WeRateDogs @WeRateDogs 

@SpideySucks we would like to rate Spirit when you show her to us!! She sounds like a good girl! 

Peter-Man @SpideySucks

@WeRateDogs!!!!! yessssss Spirit is the best girl!!!!

WeRateDogs @WeRateDogs 

@SpideySucks we can’t wait!!!

~~~~~

lola @loooool 

@SpideySucks what do you think of the Rouge Avengers? I’m doing a report on them and they are really in the wrong. 

Peter-Man @SpideySucks

okay so imma link an article i wrote for mrs stark back when i was a new intern. www.rougeavengerswerewrong.com

-Article- 

Why the Rouge Avengers were Wrong 

During the Accords Debate many Avengers voiced their concern on how this would effect their future and how it would effect their fighting of villains, such as HYDRA. 

The Accords were made after a small group of Avengers were fighting a small HYDRA cell in Lagos which left twenty six (26) dead, some being of Wakandan descend. This tragedy called for the UN to look at the Avengers and ask themselves if having a group of superhero’s under a private organization was politically and ethically correct. 

The UN then held a conference where all Avengers were invited, however only two turned up. Mr Tony Stark and Ms Natasha Romanoff. The conference asked the 117 countries to agree on rules set out to improve the safety of the Avengers and the rest of the world. Once agreed the two Avengers present took this news back to their team and they discussed this as a team. 

This was where the split happened. Mr Tony Stark said that the team had to sign the Sokovia Accords, as they were named, however Mr Steve Rogers believed it was not the best for the team. From there the team split into two. Those who agreed with the Accords and those who did not agree with them. 

The teams were; Iron Man, Iron Patriot, Vision, Black Widow, Spider-Man and Black Panther. The opposition held; Captain America, Winter Solider, The Falcon, Hawkeye, Scarlet Witch and Ant Man. 

The two teams fought together on the runway of an airport in Germany. The location was not fully confirmed by any team but they were all seen entering the airport which was then shut for safety reasons only ten (10) minutes later. 

The teams fought against each other, once close teammates into fighting foes. They all knew each others fighting patterns so the teams were unable to beat each other until a tragedy hit the Iron Man team. 

The Iron Patriot, flown by Colonel James Rhodes, was struck by The Visions power and his suit was powered off. He fell from the sky and the impact at the ground proved to much for the Colonel and he was left paralyzed from the legs down. 

This was the end of fighting to keep everyone safe and the two teams fought harder and harder. Captain America and The Winter Solider were able to escape with the assistance of Black Widow who stunned Black Panther and let the two on a plane. The two headed off to an undisclosed location while the rest were carted off to a secure prison until they were deemed safe by a psychologist. 

Iron Man chased after the two escapees and found them at the location with the Black Panther. The four fought and the details other than that have never been released by either party. 

However, piecing it together the public knew that Mr Tony Stark was severely harmed during this encounter as he was not seen in public for six (6) months after the “Civil War”. 

The imprisoned Avengers were rescued from the prison by Captain America and ever since then they have all been on the run, with the exception of Hawkeye and Ant Man who decided to go on House Arrest to stay with their family. 

The Iron Man team, worked day and night for months until they were able to create a revision of the Accords which both teams and the rest of the world agreed with. However, the Rouge Avengers never showed up to sign them and are now classed as criminals. 

Mr Tony Stark and Mr James Rhodes are now training a new team of hero’s and vigilantes who have signed the Accords and will take the place of the Avengers when they are called for. 

The Rouge Avengers are out there and of they decide to come forward, sign the Accords, and uphold them they will be welcomed back to the Avengers. Both Mr Stark and Mr Rhodes have stated this many times. 

Written by Peter. B. Parker, 10/18/2016

——

lola @loooool

@SpideySucks wow. that’s insane how do you know so much about the battle?? this is gonna be so good for my report 

Peter-Man @SpideySucks 

@loooool well I asked mr stark and mr rhodey who helped me write some parts which I didn’t know. i hope It helps. 

lola @loooool 

@SpideySuck I feel really bad for them two. They worked with the Rouges for so long and in a day they were enemies that’s gotta hurt

Peter-Man @SpideySucks 

@loooool yeah they hate talking about it but sometimes they will and the way they get upset makes me so annoyed 

lola @loooool 

@SpideySucks I hope they know we all love them so much! @Stark @IronPatriot 

Peter-Man @SpideySucks

@loooool I tell them everyday that I love them :) 

You know me @Stark 

@loooool @SpideySucks thank you both of you

Rhodey @IronPatriot

@loooool @SpideySucks @Stark thank you Lola and Peter I’ve been doing better than back then so it’s going good 

lola @loooool 

@SpideySucks @IronPatriot @Stark omgggg,,,,,,, they replied!!!!! im dying 

Peter-Man @SpideySucks 

@loooool @Stark @IronPatriot lol these two are nerds

Rhodey @IronPatriot 

@loooool @SpideySucks @Stark Tony he’s bullying me again. This is disrespectful :( 

You know me @Stark 

@loooool @SpideySucks @IronPatriot kid I’ll cut your Netflix account. 

Peter-Man @SpideySucks 

@loooool @IronPatriot @Stark. you wouldn’t. the horror how will I live??? i will die?!?!

You know me @Stark

@loooool @SpideySucks @IronPatriot so dramatic kid. Honestly

Rhodey @IronPatriot

@loooool @SpideySucks @Stark Wonder where he gets it? 

You know me @Stark

@loooool @SpideySucks @IronPatriot I don’t know must be loki or one of his weird little friends 

Rhodey @IronPatriot 

@loooool @SpideySucks @Stark sure 

You know me @Stark

@loooool @SpideySucks @IronPatriot Everything get to work. I’m sure there is something to do which isn’t bullying me 

lola @loooool 

@Stark @SpideySucks @IronPatriot This is amazing i love This so much but I have so much homework 

Peter-Man @SpideySucks 

@loooool @Stark @IronPatriot same. See you two losers tomorrow

You know me @Stark

@loooool @SpideySucks @IronPatriot He is so rude 

Rhodey @IronPatriot 

@loooool @SpideySucks @Stark obviously. Now I’ve got to write out reports from the last mission see you tomorrow

You know me @Stark

@loooool @SpideySucks @IronPatriot See you 

————

Peter-Man @SpideySucks 

bio: I’m gay and sad. yeehaw 

following 186 followers 20.2 million 

location: Hell probably 

You know me @Stark 

bio: google me 

following 14 followers 22.1 million 

location: Stark Tower 

Rhodey @IronPatriot 

bio: Avenger leader, and war hero 

following 27 followers 19.6 million 


	4. Rouges are back

Peter walked into the labs at the Stark tower. He was not having a good day as it was, Flash was being his usual self, the Rouge Avengers have officially moved into Stark tower, and dysphoria was a bitch.

Seeing Tony on the other side of the room in the makeshift kitchen he dramatically threw his bag on the floor and sighed loudly. As if sensing this Tony looked up and Peter saw how his eyes looked tired, his skin looked gray and he seemed smaller. He was also holding what seemed to be a cup of coffee very tight.

  
“Hey kid, how was school?” Peter tried his best to hide the concern on his face with a smile as he answered back.

  
“Good Mr. Stark, we done an experiment in chemistry today. I mean it was basic but fun to watch.” Peter walked over to his desk and looked at a few of his notifications from today. A few interns wanted his input on presentations and Pepper wanted to talk to him about his new prosthetics he has created to help amputees. The last one was from FRIDAY reminding him that the Rouges were back and to keep his identity secret.

  
“That sounds fun, what one was it?” Tony was now sitting at the desk opposite him, drinking his coffee and watching Peter carefully.

  
“Yeah it was, just elephant’s toothpaste for the end of year fun test.” Peter explained, now focussing on sending messages back to the interns that had messaged him earlier. A few ‘yes I’ll be down’ and some little notes added on.

  
“I used to love doing that with the Jarvis’, they would sit for hours listening to me ramble about science and my schoolwork. They would be ignoring important work, but they never rushed me, never made me feel like a fake.” Tony stopped his little ramble.

Peter frowned, he had been getting more insecure about talking the closer today arrived. He used to ramble for hours about the qualities of nanotechnology but now he cuts himself off. 

“That sounds really nice. I used to do that to May before.. but she never really understood what I was saying.” Peter said quietly, May’s face flashing in his mind quickly. 

“Yeah but she always tries to learn she said. I think one day you mentioned the chemical reaction to make esters and she had no clue what it was but later that night I found her reading up about it.” 

The two chuckled slightly at the memory of May and her antics. She passed a couple years ago but it still hurt everyone a little bit. Peter went through a really depressive stage where he lost so much weight, stopped talking and never left his room. Everyone was so worried that they practically forced him into therapy which helped a lot. 

“So I know you know this but They are back today. I don’t want you going anywhere near them okay. They are dangerous and probably don’t like me very much which may end badly for you.”

Peter nodded as Tony said this and smiled softly. They both knew that the Rouges would be the one that had it bad if they tried to talk to anyone in their little family. And Peter was ready to fight anyone if they said anything bad. 

“Yes Tony. I won’t go looking for them at all. But if they find me and start saying things it’s their fault.” 

“I can live with that fine,” Tony said as he picked up a piece of paper. “Intern lab 6 has asked for you a couple times today. Something about an explosion.”

Peter looked up and sighed. They were so close to finishing that project. 

“Okay. Are you okay if I head down now and help them?” 

“I’m not an old man that will break without you Pete. Go and be a nerd,” 

“Whatever old man. Don’t get anymore gray hairs when I’m gone!” Peter shouted from the door as he walked out with a smirk. He could hear Tony muttering about him being a “rude gen Z kid” but he knew it was joking.

As Peter entered the lift he looked to his StarkPad. Level 16 for the Intern 6 Lab and level 20 for the others who need help.

“FRI level 16 please,”

”Of course Peter. I must warn you that this lab seems to be in chaos.” Her time seemed to be more humorous than normal so Peter expected the worse. 

“Thanks FRI. Could you tell them I’m coming please,” Peter heard a small ding from the camera and knew FRIDAY had told the Interns he was coming to help. 

The lift came to a stop and the doors opened. Peter was hit by the smell of burning rubber and wood. He then spotted the smoke that was being put out by the Interns. 

Walking over calmly as he could Peter assessed the area fast and deemed it safe enough to work on still. 

“Okay. So can someone please explain how this happened?”

Everyone stopped and looked to each other. And then a new Intern spoke up, Peter didn’t recognize them so stored that at the back of his head. 

“We were trying to build a better eco-friendly phone battery. Where if thrown out could break down and not release toxic chemicals into the world. But then we added to much Nitrogen and Hydrogen Peroxide And it caused a reaction.” 

“Okay. So this can be cleaned up. I trust that you will dispose of any chemical spills and badly damaged things. If you have anything needing replaced such as StarkPads or lab coats please put in a request to your head Intern who should be Max Ulma. And please be careful in the future.” 

The Interns has already started to clear up the mess when Peter stopped the new one.

”Hello. I am Peter Parker, I am a lead director for all Intern projects. I use He/Him pronouns and I am happy to help with anything you need,” Peter said with a smile. 

“Uhm. Hey. I’m Alex, gender-fluid so i have a bracelet for pronouns. Today is She/They. I just got an Internship after graduating MIT,” Alex told Peter. The two shook each other’s hands and Peter left her to clean up with the others. 

He walked around the rest of the lab looking at equations and correcting them when needed. He also helped others create hypothesis for their experiments before heading up to the other labs. 

In the lift he asked FRIDAY for the camera footage of the Rouges. She pulled it up on his StarkPad as he wandered into a room beside the labs. 

The Rouges seemed to be sitting on the couch except the Winter Solider. He was no where in the living area. The Rouges were talking about something so Peter pulled up Audio. 

“I can’t believe we aren’t allowed into the penthouse anymore. Or the labs. How are we gonna make Stark do our equipment?” Steve complained. A few nodded but others just sat silent. 

“It’s not his fault, he probably doesn’t feel comfortable letting us in their yet. We did kinda betray him.” Natasha explained evenly. 

That was when all hell broke loose. 

“I don’t care if he’s comfortable or not we deserve to be in our own rooms again. We were a family.” Steve argued back but Natasha just shook her head. 

“How would you feel with a back stabbed sharing your home? He didn’t need to let us stay here but he did because he cares. More than most of you care about him!” She shouted back at him. 

“Well I don’t care. We are Avengers and we deserve level 10 badges. No where should be restricted for us!” Wanda screamed. Natasha looked shocked at what she was saying. 

“You do know that you are illegally in this country and the government could throw you out anytime they feel like it. But Tony is putting a roof over your head, feeding you and making sure you are safe. You invaded his memories, nearly broke him and then demand full access to his home. You are all delusional. I am leaving and going to my room. Don’t try and come get me” with that she left the room with a glare at everyone else. 

“She’s right you know. We can’t demand anything since he’s done so much for us. He worked for years to get us off the hook.” Scott said as he stood up. Clint, Hope, and Vision all stood up too. Following Natasha down the corridor. 

“I don’t care what you think. He’s wrong and knows it!” Wanda screamed to them. 

Peter put the StarkPad down and sighed. He knew it would cause arguments but they only just got in today could they not have waited a day or two. 

He did admire the ones who left though. They seemed to mean what they said which Peter liked. He might ask to speak to some of them alone some time. 

He walked into Intern Lab 8 and smiled. It seemed much calmer than the last one he was in. He spotted June who messaged him for help. She was one if the senior Interns who would be getting a job as a Research and Development scientist after her Internship was over, she didn’t know this of course. 

“Hey June. How are you today?” Peter asked as he sat beside her. 

“Ahh Peter hello. Im good so far. You?” She asked without looking away from her screen. 

“Yeah it’s been good. Just dealt with an explosion down in 3. What do you need help with?” 

“So I’ve been researching how the body would react with nanotechnology in the blood stream to help detect foreign bodies. Such as illnesses. It could help decrease the waiting time for a cancer biopsy. But I can’t seem to get the code right. Can you take a look at it please?” 

Peter nodded as he took the screen closer and read the coding. He spotted a mistake in the 18th line. 

“The 18th line has a missing 0. If you add that then it should run smoother and faster in the blood stream. It looks really impressive and I can’t wait to see your presentation!” 

“Oh my god. Thank you so much Peter. You are honestly an angel I was so confused about that!” 

“You would have gotten it. But a fresh pair of eyes help anyone. Even Tony needs a quick skim over sometimes. Don’t tell him I told you though,” they both laughed slightly as they continued to work. 

June plugged the code into a simulation and it worked flawlessly, they both smiled and Peter left quietly to not disturb her work. 

He wandered back into the elevator as he worked on his tablet. He had been meaning to go and talk to Pepper about a few things so he headed to her floor.

The doors opened showing Peter the floor, Heather was sitting at her desk working on something. She smiled at him when he walked over to her.

“Hey Peter, Pepper is just off a call now if you want to speak to her quickly,” she said as she checks Peppers rota.

“Thanks Heather, when do you finish today?” He asked the intern.

“Normal time, 6-7pm. Then back home.”

“That sounds fun, I’ll see you later!” He says to her as he enters Peppers room. It used to belong to Tony so that’s why it was so big but Pepper proffered a smaller, more homely room so tried to make it feel like that.

“Hey Peter, how are you today?” She asked her voice holding the maternal tone Peter loved so much.

“Same old day basically, just finished school for the summer so I’m able to help out more with the other Interns. How was your day?”

“It was good, just finished making a deal after a couple weeks and Tony said he would make dinner for us today.”

Peter smiled. Tony made amazing food even if he didn’t like to make it a lot.

“I hope he makes pasta his one is amazing! Also I was wondering if I could get Ned and MJ a badge to help me with a few of my projects this summer. They only have level 6 so can’t get into my lab.”

Pepper nodded and wrote something down while smiling at him. “Yeah we can get them a level 9 one. They can go anywhere alone except for the penthouse and your labs, they will need to be with one of us for that.”

“Thank you so much Pepper! I can’t wait to tell them. Also I was wondering if I could steal Heather for a bit. I don’t think she’s taking a break in a while so I was gonna take her for food.”

“You are too nice for this world Peter, and you’re right she hasn’t taking a break since 10am today. So go on take her for a nice meal and you can pay for it, use the card we gave you.”

“Thank you! I’m going to take her too that Italian place! Bye Pepper!” He ran out the room with a wave and Pepper smiled to herself.

Peter spotted Heather and told her she was taking a break and they were going to get food. She hesitated a bit but Pepper messages her and told her to go for food so with that the two were off and going to get Italian food.

~~

The two came back from their break with smiles on their faces as they laughed about the news. Heather was so nice to everyone but never took time off. Peter said goodbye to here and headed up to the living area.

Entering he spotted Tony making food and smiled. Tony pulled a seat up on the kitchen counter to let Peter sit and talk to him as he cooked.

“How was the date?” Peter shook his head.

“Not a date but the lunch with Heather was great. We had Italian. How was the lab?”

“Good. Just finished up with a new suit upgrade. I’ll show you later.”

The two day in comfortable silence for a bit until an alarm set off. Jumping to the roof from fright Peter looked to Tony confused.

“The Rouges must have tried to get somewhere they aren’t allowed,” Tony said quietly. Not wanting to deal with them yet.

“You don’t need to deal with it. Tony please let me do it, you can watch the cameras while I’m there,”

Tony stopped. He didn’t feel comfortable going alone but he wasn’t letting Peter anywhere near them.

“It’s okay kid I got this. You stay here and watch the food,” Tony said, his breathing was already rugged.

“Tony I’m not letting you go. I’ll override the elevator, you look close to a panic attack already. If you won’t let me go alone I won’t let you either.” Peter said matter of factly.

Tony felt his breathing and tried to stabilize himself with Peters help. After a minute he calmed down more and nodded his head.

“We can go together but you are my intern only,”

Peter nodded and crossed his heart. They stepped into the elevator and felt it move down to the Rouges living area. The doors opened to show all the Rouges standing arguing. 

The shouting stopped when they heard the doors open and showing Tony with a kid. 

“Do all it took was for us trying to get to our old rooms to get you to show up. Great host you are!” Steve shouted to the man who visibly shrunk at the verbal attack. 

Peter counted to ten and stepped out the elevator. Tony behind him.

“And who are you? His bastard son?” Steve laughed harshly at Peter. Tony grabbed his hand and held it, he knew Peter would attack him.

“I’m sorry but we were alerted to trespassing in this quarters,” Peter said, his voice steady and steel like. Tony was taking back by how serious he was.

“Not trespassing just wanting to get back to our old rooms. And why are you hanging around with Stark? He’s an alcoholic asshole” Wanda told the boy who smirked at her. She got the feeling of anger from him and pain which made her stop trying to get into his mind.

“Ms Maximoff if you try to read my mind again I will be forced to send you back the raft for breach of The Accords. And for your other problem those rooms have level 10 access you however only have level 8 badges. Until you can show Tony that you have stopped being a traitor and he has trust in you again you will stay level 8.” 

The room was stunned. This kid didn’t look older that 18 and here he was telling the Earths mightiest heroes they were traitors. (I mean some of them agreed with him)

“Kid what ever he’s told you is obviously lies. I mean he’s probably drunk right now” Steve told Peter who held back his laughter.

“You couldn’t be further from the truth Mr Rogers. See Tony here has been sober for 5 years. And if you do the math that was also during the time you all lived in this very tower. If you did not see how he was trying I can onlyblame yourselves. Now please do not try and access any level 9 or level 10 areas or we will be forced to kick you out after your third attempt. And again powers are not to be used on anyone or anything in this tower unless in the Enhanced Gym with permission from FRIDAY.”

Tony and Peter left the group, all eyes on them for different reasons. Natasha, Clint, Scott and Hope because they realized how much the kid meant to Tony. Sam was watching him because from the looks of it Tony was terrified of Steve and that didn’t make sense with the story he was told. Steve and Wanda watched because they wanted answers on who he was.

Once in the penthouse Tony broke down. He was crying on Peter who held him.

“I’m sorry I choked up Pete. I tried but when he screamed I couldn’t do it. I was back in Siberia. But you done so well kid. I’m so proud of you.” 

“Hey Tony look at me. You were amazing, you didn’t let them see how scared you were and that is an improvement from last year. I know you are terrified but it’s okay now. You are safe now and forever.”

The two fell into silence until Pepper came up to them. They didn’t realize how much time had passed from staring out of the window.

“FRIDAY told me what happened. I’m proud of both of you,” she pulled them into a hug and they stayed like that for a bit until Tony got up to make food. Pepper held Peter back for a second to speak to him.

“I’m proud of how you handled that really well. I know how much that scared you hit you were strong for him. Thank you,”

“Still wish I had punched him. He is such a dick” the two laughed as he said this. Pepper didn’t disagree though.

Peter hugged Pepper tightly as he felt loved. He loved his family, his friends and his life now. 


	5. I can’t say those three words

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter tries, he does but something about those three words make him feel sick. It’s not like he doesn’t love his family he just can’t tell them. 
> 
> Or 5 ways Peter shows he loves his family and 1 time they show him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the layout.
> 
> And this is almost 9000 words long, sorry it’s so long

-1-

Peter looked at himself in the mirror. He didn't know what was wrong with him. He been living with Tony and Pepper for a few year's now, he's called then mom and dad a few times. So why was it so hard for him to say the three words they constantly say to him?

He grabbed his shirt and pulled it over his head, grabbed a hoodie and made sure his arms were covered. He knew that Pepper and Tony has seen his scars but he hated them, hated how they made him feel useless and childlike. They reminded him of the days before he was here. Before he had anyone and he hated remembering that.

Leaving the room he smiled at Pepper who was making food and he knew that smell. Blueberry pancakes. His favorite but also Tony's favorite.

"Hey Pepper, how are you today?" He asked cheery as ever with that fake smile he had perfected over the years.

"Not great to be honest. Some old guy from Japan won't finalize the deal we've been working on until Tony looks it over. He doesn't understand that Tony has no idea what it's about!"

Peter could feel her pain. Sexist old guys were so painful to deal with. He's got it good but in reality they only listen to old guys too.

"How about I do it! I've been meaning to help with more of your work. I've just been really busy sorry," his voice dropped towards the end. They both knew what he was talking about, the fact that someone in his class found out about him being adopted and told everyone.

"Don't apologize for that Peter you were amazing on the conference and you have been amazing through this whole thing."

Peter smiled slowly but deep down still blamed himself.

If he didn't leave his phone open when he went to grab a tissue. If he didn't have Tony saved as IronDad. If he didn't have the picture of him and Tony sleeping on the couch as his photo. If he listened to them. If he hadn't been distracted that day he could have seen Flash grab his phone.

"Peter hey look at me. You need to stop spiraling I'm scared how this will end." Peppers voice held so much concern that only her and Tony could ever muster.

"Yeah I know. Sorry Pepper," his voice gave him away he could feel it drop in his cheeriness.

"Okay how about this, we go up to my office grab some work and come back down here and do it while eating. Sound good?" She asked the boy who only smiled and nodded.

"Great. Come on then." the two wandered into the lift and made small talk as FRIDAY took them to Peppers office. She said hello to a few workers and then came back out her room with a huge workload. Peter grabbed them straight away and smiled at her.

"Okay. What's to be tackled first?" He asked as they waited in the elevator.

"The Japanese contract was meant to be done today."

"Okay. Then let's get it finished,"

The two worked for a couple of hours, stopping to stretch, eat or get a new cup of coffee. It felt like no time had passed when they had completed two contracts and signed one of them of completely.

Pepper had become tired during the last half hour and had finally nodded off while reviewing Stark Industries discrimination policy was up to date. Peter smiled softly and made sure she was covered by a blanket as he finished the work left.

It felt like an hour or so until Peter fully came back to himself from legal jargon but looking outside he realized it must have been more than 5 hours since it was now dark outside. He glanced over at Pepper wo was still asleep, he asked FRIDAY to watch over her as he made food for them.

Tony was due back today so he made sure to have extra incase Rhodey and Happy come up with him. He decided on making a chicken, easy and everyone liked it.

While he was cooking it in the oven and making the potatoes he could hear Peppers heart rate pick up meaning she was awake.

"I'm making food Pepper!" He shouted over to her, she walked into the kitchen and looked around.

"Why did you let me sleep? I could have finished the work" her words hit Peter. Why did he let her sleep? What was the purpose in it they could have both done it faster.

He shrugged. He didn't have an answer but deep down he think he knew why. "You looked like it was stressing you out so I let you sleep"

Pepper smiled, she left it at that but she could feel that ever so familiar feeling in her chest. The one she only felt for Peter and she could only describe it as Maternal Love. She would never replace his mother or aunt but she would be there for him her own way.

The two of them worked on dinner in silence u until FRIDAY announced that Tony, Rhodey and Happy were back. The timing was almost perfect, the chicken needed a couple minutes but that gave everyone time to say hello to each other. To be a family.

"Pepper! Peter! I am back" Tony's voice shouted from the opening elevator doors. The two named laughed at his antics but nonetheless still went to greet them.

The three exited the elevator and they looked a state. It was a basic mission, go and stalk a few folk in Europe and then report back to the government. But from the look of it they got a bit attacked.

"I thought you told me you were fine! What happened!" Pepper said to her husband who looked to the ground. The other two men snickered at him. Peter looked to them and they didn't look as injured as Tony. So he guessed Tony had done something stupid.

"Did you fall into a dumpster or something?" Peter decided to ask which made the other two laugh more while Tony just slowly nodded his head. Peter laughed at this and watched as Pepper tried to understand how.

"You have a suit of metal that can fly but somehow you still fall into a dumpster. Please explain to me what happened," her voice had a hint of laughter in it which made Tony look even more annoyed.

"Go on the Stanky tell them what happened," Rhodey said through his laughter.

"I saw a spider" Tony whispered but everyone heard it. It was only them they all started to laugh. Peter loved it. They weren't laughing at someone but With them. He missed this when he was alone.

"Peter the chicken is done. The potatoes are as well." FRIDAY told him. Peter nodded and headed to the kitchen. His family watching him. He heard Pepper ask about the mission and what the got. Nothing on the guy they were watching but they did get some Rouge Avengers activity.

Peter took the chicken out the oven, turned the potatoes off and grabbed his salad he premade. He placed it all on separate plates and put them on the table with gravy.

"This smells amazing Kid! Thank you" Tony told him as he sat down carefully. The others followed and also thanked him for the food. They all talked about their week catching the others up. Peter smiled as he watched on. His family, loving, caring, and his.

-2-

Peter had been stuck in the lab for a day and a bit when he felt it. The Spidey senses creeping up his spine. Turning around he spotted Tony going to ignite something to create a fire. For some reason Peter needed him to stop.

Quickly he ran over to Tony. Pushing him away from the experiment which exploded as he did so. Peter felt his arm get crazed by metal and fire but he ignored it. He need to make sure Tony was okay. Tony could be hurt.

"Tony you okay? Did you get hurt?" His voice was panicked, he might not have been fast enough to stop his da- mentor getting hurt.

"Yeah I'm good. Are you? God kid your arm!" As Tony looked at his arm Peter could finally feel the pain. He's had worse but knows Tony will make him go to medial.

"It's fine. Tony please I'm okay just a small burn. You are the one who needs to be checked incase I hit your head." Peter could feel the pain creep up his arm and into his shoulder. This was gonna take a while to heal he thought.

"Nope. Medical right now, both of us if that makes you feel better," Peter didn't want to admit it but he was grateful. He was in a lot of pain and tired so he could use a nap.

"Yeah. Come on" his usual facade of not being hurt was faltering with the sleep deprivation and injury. He thought back to the last time he ate. Grabbing a cereal bar Bruce made him, Tony and himself made it to the door where they took the elevator to medical.

The doors opened and they were spotted by Dr Theo, one of Peters favorites. He took the two into a room and looked over Tony first, no concussion, no damage except being a bit dehydrated and hungry.

Peter on the other hand had caught the fire at the hottest bit and managed to sustain 2nd degree burns, and also pieces of scrap metal embedded themself in his skin. He got the scrap metal out and applied the bandage they had created for burns. Dr Theo knew about Spider-Man so expected both of them to make an excellent recovery. As long as they received fluids, sleep and food in the next couple hours.

With a quick goodbye the two scientists were off again and heading to the penthouse they stayed in. Tony watched as Peter smiled softly probably thinking about how he could change his formula he was working on.

"Hey kid I gotta tell you that was horrible. I don't want to think what would have happened if you got more injuries because of me. I can't let that happen anymore okay."

Peter looked confused. He didn't know what Tony was sting but it sounded like he was not allowed to save Tony again.

"Nope. Sorry Tony but we both know that I'm not gonna stop helping you. I don't know why you think you can tell me that because I need you Tony. I can't have you hurt when I could have stopped it." The underlying thing was understood by both of them. Peter loved him and Tony loves him too.

"I love you too Peter." The two stayed on the couch until they fell asleep, Pepper found them the next morning and smiled at her small family.

-3-

Peter was swinging about the city, he had been called on a small mission with Rhodey and Tony. He was to gather information on this gun dealer and report back in an hour. That was half an hour ago.

The dealer, a stupid one Peter decided, had stayed in the same warehouse he was last caught in. The guns, drugs and people he had hostage all on show for anyone who looked closely. Peter could feel his anger for this man increase more and more. Especially when he spotted a teenager who's couldn't be more than 14 years old.

Deciding to stay in one spot for a while he made a small web hammock and recorded what was going on for the court case I'd they needed it. Designated stupid baddy was talking to his goons, something about how he needed more hostages to bribe the police to let him go free if he got caught.

The goons left and Peter sighed he really couldn't be bothered with pretending to not be there anymore.

"Hey Karen, phone them two please." He asked the AI who answered with a face cam of the other two.

"Hey Peter, how is it going?" Rhodey asked with a smirk. He knew Peter couldn't just sit and do nothing for too long.

"Boring. Bad guy number one decided he needs more hostages so we better hurry up on this. And he's just so annoying and stupid!"

Tony sighed, he knew Peter would try and attack the dealer if they didn't hurry up.

"We are about 10 minutes out. Think you can wait that long before webbing them up?"

Peter looked away from the screen and down to the floor. The hostages seemed safe now, not hurt except for a guy with a bleeding nose. They would be safe for 10 minutes.

"Yeah just hurry up before he starts monologuing his stupid plan."

With that the call ended and Peter watched the people below him. He was surprised no one had spotted him yet. He then had a thought. Tony has told him not to attack the dealers. Nothing about helping the hostages.

Dropping down to their level slowly, making no noise be creeped over to the small group. They had spotted him and all watched him with wide eyes.

"Hey guys. So I've got Iron Man and War Machine heading down to help me deal with them but just so you all know I'll get you all out safely when it comes to that okay."

They all nodded fast, the teenager was crying and the adults were watching them sadly. Peter looked to the ground, trying to think of how to help without putting them in danger.

"Hey kid. I know this is scary, but believe me I'm going to him get you out of here and to safety. Can you think of a movie or show you want to watch after this is over?" Distractions work pretty well normally.

She nodded slowly and watched Spider-Man smile.

"Good! Now when you get to your house I'll come and watch it with you okay?" The Teen nodded then and smiled softly.

"Okay. When you here the other two come in. Keep low and quiet. I'll get you out when they deal with the bad guys. I'll be back soon" he smiled to the group and left them while he went to the hammock again.

Tony and Rhodey would be here soon, only a couple minutes. He listened for the tell tale sign of their thrusters. He then heard them, it was faint but it was there.

He crawled onto the roof through the window that was open and waited to see them. Soon he could spot their figures and waved at them.

Tony landed first, quiet and stealthy like he was used too. Rhodey on the other hand flew around the back to stop them leaving that way.

"Okay what we got kid?"

"There is eight hostages, one teenager, rest of them are adults. They don't seem to know what's going on except he needs them for leverage. The goons left 10 minutes ago to grab more but I think the police might be on the look out. And number one baddy is in the office."

Tony nodded as he was looking through the window. He spotted the small group who was also watching him.

"You made contact with them?" He knew the answer but asked anyway.

"Yeah they were terrified. No one but then saw me though. Told the kid I'd watch a movie with her after this."

Tony nodded and smiled, his kid was too good for this line of work.

"Okay. So here's the plan. Rhodey you take the back entrance, make sure no one leaves that way. I'll take the dealer out in the office. Peter get the hostages out safely and fast. We then wait for police to come get him. Goons will then return. We take them out, go home for food." Tony explained the plan over comms, Peter nodded and Rhodey confirmed.

"Okay, positions. Start in 30 seconds," Tony ordered. The three moved to their positions with Peter dropping down to the hostages again.

"3,2,1, Go!" 

Tony burst down into the warehouse, aiming for the office. Peter had cut everyone's feet and arms free, he had grabbed a few peoples arms and ran. They had left the building. He counted heads but only got to 7.

Shaking one of the people pointed to the door. The teenager had been grabbed by someone and looking closely he could see that was a goon back early.

"Now now now. What do we have here Spidey?" He taunted, knife in hand and the gurl in his other.

"Let her go and I won't hurt you!" He shouted back. The bad guy laughed and shook his head.

"Not going to happen. I want this one, she's so Wert can't wait to break her." Peter shivered as the goon looked at her with that look Peter hated. He knew what he meant and Peter hated it.

"No can do Dude. She is innocent you on the other hand aren't. Now let's talk about this. You let her go and I'll get you a deal,"

That was lie. Everyone knew that. Spider-Man was known as someone who hated rapists, hated pedophiles. He was not getting this guy off. No matter what.

"No you won't Spidey. I know you. I know how you are. And I'm not going back behind bars, never again!" The guy was walking away now Peter needed to think fast. He webbed himself up to the door frame where he webbed the teenagers back and pulled her up too him fast.

"Sorry that must have hurt," he said quickly tk her. She shook her head and cried.

"Thank you!" Peter nodded and made sure she got down safely. Stoll watching the goon who looked pissed off now.

"Spidey, we might not be seeing eye to eye now. I wanted her!" Yeah a bit pissed off.

"No can do. You are going behind bars for a long time." He started to web the guy up. But before he could stop him the goon pressed a button and Peters senses went to 20.

He needed to get away from the building now. But Rhodey and Tony were still in there.

"RUN!" He screamed to the people who scattered further away.

He threw himself up to the roof, just as he spotted the collapsed side opposite him. Then he felt another rumble as his side collapsed. He looked to the sky, only spotting Tony before his hearing picked up on Rhodey screaming for help.

Like light he was off, impossible to stop. Tony flew down beside him, throwing rubble away from Rhodeys suit. Peter was going too fast for Tony to see his arms moving.

Peters heart stopped the second he spotted Rhodeys face. The mask had broken off and he managed to get a broken nose, scratches and a really bad gash to his head.

"Hey uncle Rhodey, can you see me?"

"Kid? Wha' you doi'?" Rhodey slurred out slowly. Tony's heart broke at that. His friend was trapped, his kid was trying so hard to not have a panic attack.

"Kid you have to keep him awake. Keep talking," Tony said to Peter who nodded.

"Uncle Rhodey you should see what I've been working on. It's a robot that follows you in the lab. It knows you favorite coffee, snacks and music. You need to stay alive so I can show you it. I'll even name it after you if you live!"

Peter was speaking as steadily as he could while throwing rubble off his uncle, and nearly crying. Tony was crying silently as he helped pull the rubble away. FRIDAY was keeping an eye on Rhodeys heart rate and oxygen levels. They were lowering every second.

The had finally removed all the rubble after minutes that felt like hours. He was unconscious but still alive. Carefully Tony picked him up to move him somewhere safer. Peter was crying on the pile of rubble unable to move.

"Kid I'll be right back okay. I'm phoning Helen to come with the Med plane."

With that Peter was left alone, crying as he looked over at his uncle. He felt someone walk closer to him, spinning his head around getting ready to attack he realized it was the teenage girl.

"Hey Spidey, are you okay?" Her voice was shaking and Peter could tell how terrified she was.

"Not really. But I will be since everyone is alive. I'm sorry you got caught up in this," Peter realized he didn't know her name yet.

"I didn't catch your name," he said softly as she sat beside him.

"April Cottell. Thank you for saving me today, and I'm sorry about your.. uncle," she hesitated a bit before saying it. Unsure on how he'd react.

"April's a nice name, and it's my job to save you. I would never stop anyway I love doing it. And Rhodey will be okay, he's had worse. Now let's help the others get to the hospital." The two stood up both leaning on the other for support, not that anyone needed to know.

"Yeah. They were all really scared," she said as they walked closer to them. Looking at the group Peter could see that they had all cried and were needing medical attention for shock.

"Okay. So the services will be here soon, I want you all to get checked out and don't worry about the cost I'll cover it. You were all amazing today even under the circumstances." He said to the group who nodded. None seemed confident to speak, scared this was going to stop and they would be back in the warehouse.

"Okay. I can here the sirens. Let me explain what happened," the cars and ambulances drove right over to them, he could see fire engines heading towards the building to stop the small fires about. Tony was still attending to Rhodey. The plane would be here soon for them.

"Spidey what the hell happened!" The police chief shouted. They had gotten used to each other now and were kinda coworkers.

"Uhm, so gun dealer wanted hostages to make sure you would comply later, Iron Man, War Machine and myself took them out. All are webbed up or tied down over there," he pointed to the small group of bad guys, "but there was a few bombs in the warehouse which went off. No civilian casualties but War Machine was struck and is getting medical attention. All these guys are needing medical attention too."

As he finished explaining he looked to the group, all were being looked over by the paramedics. Johnathon, police chief, had nodded at the story.

"Okay. Thanks Spider-Man. Go and check your guys out now," the two left each other and Peter ran to Rhodey and Tony.

By the time Helen had checked Rhodey over he was awake and bored.

"I'm okay guys please. Just knocked out, I'm okay now!" He said over and over but no one was listening.

"You've got to have stitches on that wound on your head. You aren't concussed but no missions for three days until you've healed!" Dr Helen Cho told the injured man who sighed but nodded.

"Now you two, i better Not see you out for at least a day. You have both suffered injuries from the way you moved the rubble. So no work tomorrow!"

With that Helen has left the tower med bay and left the three heroes looking bored. Peter sat down beside his uncle and looked at him.

"Do that again and I'll never watch Disney movies with you again and that's a promise." With that it was silent again, all three knowing what he meant by that.

-4-

Peter had been planning on giving Happy a birthday present for a few weeks now. He knows that Happy hates them because of his old family life but he can't not get one.

So Peter made a plan. One that would give Happy a present without him thinking he got one. He was going to give the man a night off andtickets to go and see a musical. (Peter knee he always loved them even if Happy denied it.)

Asking Pepper for help, the two made sure it would be a show he loved so paid for tickets to go and see Come From Away. They had gotten him a small bundle so he could invite friends to it.

The day came, an ordinary Thursday. Happy picked Peter up from school, his mood was a bit more sad that day and Peter tried to not talk to much but couldn't stop himself. They entered the tower, Happy pushing him through security as Peter explained how Hydrogen Bonds worked in biology. (He pretended he didn't care but Happy felt better with him rambling) the two walked into the penthouse with Pepper and Tony on the couch. Rhodey has been in a meeting most of the day but had told them he'd be back soon.

The four sat on the couch, talking about their days and the news. No one me ruined Happy's birthday and the man wasn't sure if he was glad about that or not. It was an hour or so after until Rhodey walked into the room.

"So when Tony or Pepper walks in they get a hug but when I do it's nothing. And her I thought I was the cool uncle." Peter smiled and went to hug Rhodey while the others watched.

"I can't do this anymore!" Peer exclaimed only a few minutes later. Pepper smirked as Tony gave her a $20 bill.

"What can't you take?" Happy asked, confused at what was happening.

"Happy Birthday uncle Happy!" Peter shouted as he smiled at him. Happy looked at them all in shook. They had never done anything for his birthday because he asked them not too. But the kid was doing this now and he didn't know what to do.

"So we know you don't like birthdays but Peter really wanted to help you realize they could be good too. So he got you something," Tony said as Peter had pulled out an envelope.

He handed it over to Happy who took it carefully and opened it. It was a birthday card with a picture of them all on the front. He smiled at the photo and opened he card.

Out fell tickets to a show. Happy picked them up and had trouble stopping his tears. He had got tickets to Come From Away, a show he liked by refused to say aloud. He looked to the others who were smiling at him.

"Thanks kid. Hope you didn't spend to much pocket money on them" he tried to joke but his happiness was too bright too actually mean it.

"Well I hope you enjoy it tonight, also it's the best seats in the house." Happy frowned. There was enough tickets for them all but it sounded like they weren't going.

"Are you seriously wearing that T-shirt to broadway?" He asked Peter who looked a bit confused.

"I'm not going.." he said slowly. Happy shook his head.

"You are all coming with me. I'm not going alone," Happy told the small group who smiled and pulled him into a hug.

The group all changed into better clothes and had left the penthouse to get food before the show.

Happy watched them all eat and smiled. His old family may have hurt him but this new one would never do that.

The show was amazing. They were all crying by the end of it as they realized the passengers all got new family during the attack.

-5-

Tony has known that Harley Keener was in New York for a day and a half. Pepper had told him about the boy who was living beside their tower, armed with a potato gun, books and an attitude to rival his.

He went out to look for him but by the time he did the boy had vanished. Getting FRIDAY to hack the cameras he watched the kid wander around the city.

It was definitely Harley Keener. No homeless kid would have a potato gun, or carry their school books with them. They would be valuable and worth a lot. So he knew it was his kid he lost, and also the fact that the kid hadn't changed in the past 7 years.

During the night it was painful for Tony to not go and take him from the alleyway and bring him to the Tower. But Peter had told him that wouldn't work. Harley would run from him, and they didn't know how long he'd been homeless for so it might scare him too.

It had been agreed that Peter would be the first one to talk to him. Go and see how he's feeling, take food and money with him and pretend to not know him. So as Peter left the tower, being followed by the cctv footage. (Which Tony hacked)

Peter had wandered up the street Harley was sitting on. He pretended to be looking for a cafe when he spotted Harley. (Harley was smart, he knew Peter was lying.)

"Hey are you okay, I'm Peter." Peter asked him.

Every fiber in Harley told him to lie. Say he was okay, waiting on a friend. But he knew that Peter knew he was homeless, knew he needed help.

"Yeah just great." His voice had changed in the past two years on the streets. More rough, and deep.

"You sure? Have you had food today?" Peter asked softly. He could feel Harley's nerves firing, making him want to run.

"Yeah I had a bagel yesterday. I'm good for another day." It was the truth. He had been saving up to maybe stay in a motel this winter.

"I've got food if you need it, please" Peter has went into his bag and brought out a small packed lunch box. Harley looked inside and nearly drooled.

It held, two bagels, cereal bars, sweets and fruit. In his other hand he also had a water bottle.

"I couldn't. It's yours," Harley said quietly, he knew the food would help him survive but he didn't want to owe Peter anything.

"Please take it. I've got more food. But you need it, I remember how tough it was being in your place." Harley stopped breathing for a second.

"Wait you were homeless too?"

"Yeah for a year. Then Tony came and picked me up. He's been worried about you Harley," Peter had moved to sit with him. Giving the other teenager plenty of room to get up and run away.

"I can't. I'm a disappointment. I didn't even mean to be in that alleyway, it was the only free one and it looked warm. I didn't mean to be rude to Ms Potts. I'm sorry. I'm sorry." Harley had started to cry. He hates crying, it had been over three months since he had last cried.

"I'm here for you, Tony is too. And Pepper doesn't care. She's worried about you being hungry, tired, and in pain." Peter explained softly as he held Harley's hand.

"I'll be okay. I have food and money saved up. Please don't take me to the CPS. They'll make me go back. I can't go back. Not again,"

Peters heart broke, he understood Harley's feeling. He hated his homes he was put in. They never fed him, abused him and made him do things he never forgot.

"I would never let you go back to that place Harley. Please let me help you," Peter was trying to get him to listen but it didn't seem to work well.

"I'm okay. Please. I'm okay," They both knew it was a lie.

"How about. We go to that cafe over there," Peter pointed to one across the street, "I buy you a nice hot meal and drink. Then you can talk to me. I won't force you to tell me anything or take you anywhere you don't want to go." Peter asked the boy who nodded quickly.

The two helped each other up and Peter took Harley in really. He was skinny, to skinny. He had scars on his neck, and hands. They looked like they had been from cigarettes and knifes. His hair was too long for his face and it made him look older than he was.

The two boys walked over the street, Peter holding Harley up as he carried his bag and sleeping bag. They sat down in the cafe, the staff watching them closely. Peter was used to that, it happened a lot when he went in one when he was homeless. And by the looks of it Harley was used to it to.

"Okay. Do you like everything on the big breakfast?" Harley nodded and looked at the menu. $14.60 for that. He didn't know how he would repay Peter for it.

"Okay then." Peter looked to the server and smiled.

"Three big breakfasts please with three plates of pancakes." Harley looked up with wide eyes. That was going to be expensive. Really Expensive.

"You aren't needing to pay me back Harley, I've got this okay." Peter told the boy who nodded in shook.

Harley done the math. That was at least $74 for the two of their breakfasts. He knew that Peter lived with Tony and Pepper but he felt really bad for making him pay that. What if he was saving up for something else?

"Peter I'm sorry. I can't let you pay for all that please. Take some money,"

Peter looked like he knew this was coming.

"I know you think it's hurting me paying for this but it's not. I promise you I am happy paying for your breakfast and whatever else you need no matter what." Harley still hated himself for this no matter what Peter said.

"Okay. So know that we have food coming. Do you want to ask me anything?" Peter asked the other boy who nodded.

"How did you know a where I was?" He guessed Tony had something to do with it.

"So Tony fine some illegal hacking because he went I look for you after Pepper saw you but you vanished. So he hacked them to follow you. Took all my strength to stop him kidnapping you last night. I knew you would hav freaked out sorry."

Harley was thankful for that. He didn't know how he would react to Iron Man swooping down and grabbing him. Probably by panicking and refusing to talk.

"Thank you. I would have freaked if he did I guess. Only other question. Why are you here?" It may have sounded harsh but Harley needed to know.

"Well Tony has been looking for you nonstop since he found you like 7 years ago. But you went missing a few years ago and he's been going crazy looking for you. The government don't really update CPS files as you probably know by now. So when Pepper seen you he cried and went to get you. But you were missing again so here I am trying to convince you to join me back at the Tower."

As he finished explaining he turned around and spotted heir food coming over.

"Foods here," The server said as she places down the three plates of meat and eggs. She then placed the pancakes beside them.

"Thank you so much. This looks amazing!" Peter said as she smiled and walked away.

Harley didn't know where to start so when Peter pushed a plate to him he didn't say no and dug in. He hasn't eaten this much in so long that he felt sick.

Peter was also eating too. Smiling at the boy who groaned at the taste of bacon again.

"I was the same with chocolate cake. I nearly cried when Pepper made me one," Peter said as he saw Harley smiling. "We can also pack this up if you want to take it back with you." Peter pointed to the extra food left over.

Harley nodded as he ate a pancake with tears in his eyes. (He thought he would have to eat it all now)

"Okay. I'll ask them to box it up." He looked to their server and smiled as she walked over to them.

"Hello. Would I be able to box the rest up and get the cheque please?" He asked sweetly. She smiled and wandered into the kitchen again.

She came back over to them with a box and the cheque. Peter placed a hundred dollar bill and a fifty in carefully making sure Harley didn't see it and gave it back to her. She smiled widely and thanked him.

Harley watched the interaction as he boxed up food. He really felt like Peter was a great person but he didn't know when he would see him again.

"So I'm going to ask once and I'll accept your answer no matter what. Do you want to come back to the tower? You can leave whenever you want." Harley looked at Peter with a face of shock.

He hadn't thought that he would be asked. He would have a place to live. A roof over his head. But he might mess it up. They might see how damaged he actually is and send him back to the streets.

But Peter was still there. And he looked happier. He looked healthier than himself.

"Why would you want me?" Was the only thing he could say.

"Because you see like someone needing help and that's what I do. I help people," was Peters answer.

Harley knew he would never survive another winter with how little he saved up. He knew he would leave the tower after the winter.

"If I say yes. Can I still leave if I want too?" He asked.

"Yes. You aren't a prisoner. If you don't like us we will make sure to give you some money and you can leave to tower. No matter what you are free," Harley wanted to say yes. Wanted to scream that he needed help. But he simply nodded not trusting his voice.

"Great! We can take a walk back and talk if you want?" Peter picked up the extra food and helped Harley up. He was looking a bit better than before but still too skinny.

“Thank you for this. I don’t know how to repay you,”

“You don’t need too. It’s what friends do,”

-+1-

Peter had heard someone screaming as he went to finish patrol so he swung to where the scream was. This kid who couldn’t be older than 16 was on the ground covered in blood with a few guys standing over them. He landed behind the guys and sighed.

“Now, now I think it’s past your bedtimes.” They all turned to face him and scoffed.

“Look who turned up. You here to save this faggot?” One of them asked mockingly as he kicked the teen on the ground.

“That’s a pretty bad word to say to people. So how about you leave this person alone and then I won’t be forced to web you up,” Peter felt for the kid. He had been called names in school and it hurt. So for this to happen he was pissed.

“I don’t think we will,” Peter had named this one Ring Leader as the others seemed to look to him the most.

“Well then. See you in jail!” He told them as he webbed the closest two up and flipped over them to get the other three. The ring leader was left so he webbed his feet before he tried to leave.

“Now before I leave just a quick warning in New York it’s a hate crime to discriminate. You will be facing charges and I hope you know that you’ll never get a job for this.” With that he got Karen to phone the police and went to check the kid.

“Hey kid you okay?”

“Yeah I’m okay. Just sore,” they said slowly, trying to sit up.

Peter stopped them with a hand on their shoulder. “No can do kiddo. You took a few hits to the head you need checked over.”

This seemed to scare the kid more.

“I can’t my parents don’t know that I’m.. I’m gay. Please I’m okay I promise,” Peter didn’t know what to do. This kid needed attention for a concussion or something.

“How about we don’t tell them what happened then? Just say you got attacked in a mugging gone wrong?”

The kids eyes brightened at this as he slowly nodded. Peter could work with that.

“Thank you Spider-Man. I don’t know If I would have survived that.”

“It’s okay. I’m sure you will be okay but let’s wait for the ambulance to get here. And I’ll help with paying it,”

The two made small talk for a bit until the ambulance pulled up with police behind them. One of the officers stepped out and sighed when he spotted Peter.

“What have I got today?” He asked him looking at the kid beside him too.

“Kid got attacked by them. Taking him to hospital for a check over. Could you make sure these lot are in a cell for tonight until he can decide to press charges or not,”

The officer nodded and looked to the gang in front of him. Webbed up and looking pissed off.

“You got that liquid to de-web them?” Peter nodded and took a vial of the formula out his web shooters. Spraying it over the webs they started to dissolve.

“Okay. You can get him medical attention then.” With that Peter helped the paramedics get Beck into the back of the ambulance and headed to the hospital.

Beck had his parents called and they were worried about him but they had all been okay in the end. And it even resulted in Beck coming out to his parents who accepted him and they talked about what happened. Peter felt comfortable leaving him alone now but before he left he went over to him.

“You’re a brave kid Beck. Never let anyone tell you differently,” he smiled down to the kid in the bed who nodded and with that Peter swung out the window and towards the Tower.

He was past his curfew but knew Tony had his tracker on. Wandering into the lab slowly he spotted Tony working on a car.

“Hey kid. Why were you in the hospital?” Tony asked nonchalantly but Peter knew he was worried.

“This kid got hurt and I waited with him until his parents got there. Sorry I’m late,” Peter said to his father figure as he stepped out his Spidey Suit and into a hoodie and joggers he kept at his desk.

“It’s okay. I thought you had gotten hurt and damaged the suit but I could see your heart rate was okay,” Peter nodded and Tony left it at that. The two worked in perfect harmony on the car until the morning shone through the lab windows.

“Let’s get you to bed Spider-Man. I’ll let you sleep in until 2pm since Pepper is away until 3.” The two left the lab, tired and needing their beds.

As he lay in his bed he turned over a few times thinking about the night he had. He was proud that the kid had told his parents about himself and he couldn’t help but feel jealous.

He wanted to tell his family that he was Bisexual but he never felt that it was the right time. He wasn’t scared they would hate him because they’ve made it known that they love everyone. Tony and Pepper occasionally go to Pride marches, and other lgbtqia+ events. They donate every month to Stonewall and GLAAD. They even voiced their disproval of homophobic and transphobic politicians.

So I’m reality he had nothing to be scared about. But it still terrified him to think about it.He had a plan on how to do and was okay with the plan. But he never knew when to do it. He get ready and really wanted to do it today.

He fell asleep with a smile for once and no nightmares at all. He was surprised when he woke up at 2pm with Harley asking for him. He had never slept so well since living at the tower.

Feeling refreshed after a shower he headed to the living area where he spotted Rhodey and Harley watching tv. It was the news and had Spider-Man on the screen.

“Spider-Man was seen helping a teenage boy to hospital last night. He did not exit said hospital until an hour later where he was seen swinging out a window. We have asked for a statement from the police and New Amsterdam hospital but have received no comment yet. Who was the boy? Back to you Hannah,”

Peter sighed, he had become sort of a celebrity and he kind of hated it. He just wanted to save people without everyone asking who it was or why he was Spider-Man.

“Hey Peter have fun last night?” Harley asked. He had gotten used to being in the Tower but had panic attacks quite a lot. The two had gotten closer too. Seeing each other as brothers.

“Yeah. Some kid got attacked by a gang. Not fun but he’s okay,” He said as he grabbed a muffin off the plate. Blueberry, his favorite.

“That sounds bad. Hope they get what they deserve,” Rhodey said quietly but both boys heard it and agreed.

“Yeah. Do you know when Pepper and Happy are back?” He asked, flopping himself down on the couch beside them.

“Tony said 3pm, he still sleeping since he went to bed officially at 6am.” Peter looked confused. The two of them left the lab at 4am so why was he up for 2 hours after?

“He okay?”

Rhodey looked to the ground and frowned. “Not really, he had a bit after you left him. Found him with an unopened bottle of whiskey”

Both boys stopped what they were doing and looked at Rhodey. All three of them knew he stopped drinking years ago.

“Do you think he’ll be okay?”

“I’m not sure. Just act normal around him. Like after an attack,” both boys nodded and looked to each other. Planning a way to help Tony.

“Uncle Rhodey you want to play Mario kart?” Peter asked the man who smiled.

“Yeah why not. Fri, keep an eye on Tony for us.”

“Of course Rhodey,” She replied.

The three set out to play Mario Kart and win. Around 3pm Tony woke up and came into the living room. He didn’t look great but no one said anything.

“Hey Tony, you want to play?” Harley asked the man who shook his head but sat down on the couch anyway.

Rhodey put his controller down and went to the kitchen, he made four coffees and carried them over to the couch. Everyone grabbed one and thanked him.

“I know you all know so ask me about it,” Tony finally said to the other three.

The others looked to each other not knowing what to say until Peter spoke up.

“Why didn’t you want to talk to me about it? I would never judge you,”

Tony looked down as he thought of what to say.

“You don’t need to worry about me kid. I had a bad moment but I didn’t open it because I never want you to feel like I did when I was a kid.” Harley looked down, Peter did too. Rhodey understood where he was coming for but hated himself for not seeing his friend needed help.

“Tony you ever feel like this again. I don’t care what time it is, don’t care what’s happened. You come and get one of us. We don’t want you feeling like we aren’t here for you.” Rhodey said to the silence. The man nodded and lay down.

“I don’t know what happened just had a bad bit,” the other three nodded, they each knew what it felt like so just sat there to be with him. Pepper and Happy came into the penthouse about half an hour later carrying McDonalds and luggage.

Peter and Harley jumped up to help the two with their bags as they said hello to Tony and Rhodey. The teenagers decided to give them some time alone to let Tony and Rhodey tell them what happened.

Peter took this time to tell Harley something.

“Harley you know how Spider-Man swings about?”

“Yeah and?”

“Well you could say I swing both ways! Cause I’m bisexual”

Harley stood still for a second until it hit him. He laughed for a bit before smiling at Peter.

“That is amazing. Had to be one of the best coming out jokes I’ve heard in a while,” Harley said after he finished laughing. Peter stood still, not sure on what to say.

“Thank you?”

“It’s okay Peter. I’m always gonna support you no matter what okay. Unless you are a serial killer. Then I’m sorry we can’t be friends” Harley said to his brother who just nodded, close to tears.

“Thank you. I’m going to tell them later but after Tony is feeling better.” Peter explained as they walked back to the group.

“Yeah I get that. But they’ll be okay with it,”

“I hope so. Thanks for being supportive it means a lot.”

The two entered the room again just as Pepper wiped her eyes of tears, they all sat together on the couch and ate their McDonalds. It felt so familiar to them all that Peter couldn’t stop himself.

“I’m bisexual!”

Everyone stopped eating and talking, turning to look at him. Tony was the first to say anything.

“Cool. But the rules still apply, doors open fully and not until you are 18” Peter nodded at this and smiled.

“I’m happy you told us Peter. It takes a lot of guts to do that” Pepper said after Tony spoke. Peter smiled his thanks to her. The two hugged quickly.

Happy then nodded, “cool doesn’t make you less annoying though”

That made everyone smirk as Happy smiled to Peter. Harley was proud of his brother for being himself more.

Rhodey just nodded, saying, “Finally, another,”

Peter and Harley looked at him with wide eyes. He looked at them surprised for a second.

“You seriously didn’t know? Damn well same kid.” Rhodey told the kids as Pepper sighed shaking her head, smile present on her face.

“That’s amazing uncle Rhodey!” Peter said as he watched his uncle with wide eyes.

“What he said” Harley said with a smile.

“Well that was weirdly lovely but the foo is going to go cold and we have a movie to watch.”

Everyone laughed as Tony said this and began eating their food again, laughing and talking. It was domestic and everything the small family could want in life.


	6. Penny Parker

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Penny Parker is Genderfluid and Tony doesn’t know yet

Penny woke up and sighed. It was a girl day but she was going to the Tower later and Tony only knew her as ‘Him’.

Getting out for bed and putting some makeup on, not enough for anyone but herself to feel. She decided on a yellow shirt and pale blue jeans that MJ had given her.

She smiled at her reflection and walked inti the living room to see May reading on her phone.

“Hey Aunt May, its a Penny kind of day today.”

May nodded and smiled at her niece. “You look beautiful today Penny.”

The two ate breakfast together, eggs and bacon with pancakes. They worked in perfect harmony to each other. Penny making pancakes while May made eggs and bacon. It’s been just them two for so long now.

“Is it a tower day?” May asked finally after they finished food.

“Yeah. Tony wants my help on a suit upgrade,” she told her Aunt while pointing out the answer in a puzzle game.

“That makes sense,” she said quietly to herself. “Are you going to tell him?” They both knew what she was talking about.

Penny thought about it for a second. She wasn’t trying to keep it a secret but she hasn’t told him outright.

“If he asks I will. But if not nope!” May shook her head. She knew Penny hated telling people for fear of rejection.

“He’ll be okay with it or he’ll deal with me,” May said jokingly but both knew it was true. May would protect Penny no matter what in life.

“I love you May, I’ll text you when I arrive!” She shouted as she left the apartment. May shouts back an ‘Love you’.

Penny took the subway too Manhattan and walked into the Stark Tower after about an hour of traveling. She could have swung there fast but liked to people watch on the train. It was interesting the types of people she seen in the early mornings.

She headed through security with a smile at some people she recognized. She entered the elevator and was taken to Tony’s lab. She had been his intern for around a year now and was slowly understanding what makes the man tick. They had grown closer to each other and joked about more.

Walking over to her area of the lab she spotted a note on her computer.

“Come down to test room 4 and bring med kit, and your safety glasses. We gonna explode things!”

She smirked at the note which was so obviously Tony. Placing her back down she grabbed Safety Glasses, the medical kit and her pan and paper. She headed down the elevator again into level 67 which held the test rooms on it. Wandering to the last room she looked through the window and laughed. Tony was laying on the ground talking to a robot.

Walking through the door Tony looked up and smiled. “Ah yes finally scientist of the hour is here! Get ready Peter, it’s going to go boom soon,”

Penny flinched a bit at the name but Tony didn’t see it so she left it. She could go a day of wrong pronouns right?

“Okay Tony. What is going boom today?” She asked while putting her glasses on and placing the med kit beside their chairs.

“I added extra power to my repulsors and decided to test them on something my dead old father made,” he smirked as he said this to Penny.

“Well if it’s his shit let’s getting exploding.” She said excitedly. The two stood behind the plastic screen for protection.

With a click of the button the repulsors blasted out the high energy beam and burned the robot it was aimed at.

“That was so cool! Did you add an extra beam into that? It looked more blue than normal,” she asked the man who nodded.

“It has 12 beams incorporated into the big one instead of the usual 8. That makes the power stronger and the energy needed is actually half because I worked a way to channel the beams energy back into itself. So it needs a bit to start moving but it powers itself basically. And I can shut of the extra 4 beams if needed.”

“Thats amazing. Can you flip between the beams? Like the 12 one to burn things, the 8 one to use normally and the 4 beams to heat things slowly? That would give you three uses in your one gauntlet.”

Tony nodded and started to write things down on the screen while FRIDAY took notes as well.

The two threw ideas out to each other for an out before trying to add these ideas to a blueprint. They had been working for a good few hours when Tony started to talk again.

“Hey Peter. You want to go up and grab some food? It’s been a while since you had something to eat,”

The name made Penny flinch again but this time Tony seen it.

“You okay kid?”

Not really Tony. I hate when you call me that name some days. I’m gender fluid and I’m a girl today. I like Penny better today. Why can’t you see that I hate myself? I hate how I look I hate myself.

“I’m okay, you just gave me a fright,”

“Okay. Let’s go upstairs for food though. Pepper might be there too.” The two stopped their work and headed to the elevator and back to the penthouse.

“Friday could you order a few pizzas please.”

“Of course Mr Stark. Mr Parker do you have a preference today?”

Penny. Or Ms. She. Her.

“Cheese will do me Fri, thank you,”

Tony watched Peter (Penny) closely he (she) was acting really strange today and looking closely it looked like he (She) was wearing makeup.

Penny knew Tony was watching her and tried to act normal but it hurt every time he said Peter.

“Okay Parker our with it. What’s wrong?”

Parker. Her last name. Not Peter. Or Kid or Son. Parker. He knew something was up.

“Nothing Mr Stark,”

“Going back to that name I see. We both know something is wrong so you can tell me and we can sort it or I go to Aunt May,”

Penny knew Aunt May would never tell Tony what was really happening but it still scared her to no end. She didn’t want to be rejected by someone she looked up too.

“Come on Parker. I’m not going to hate you for anything. Trust me please,” the way his voice sounded weak hurt Penny. She wanted to tell him so bad. So she went for it.

“Uhm. So I’m like gender fluid,” she was quiet but Tony still heard her. And he looked happy.

“God I thought it was something bad! Really scared me there,” She stopped her self pity party and looked to him confused.

“Wait you don’t hate me?” Her voice full of hope. And Tony shook his head.

“No why would I?” He asked genuinely.

“I don’t know. I just thought you would I guess.” She answered softly.

“Well since I know what’s up. Hello I’m Tony He/Him pronouns, and you are?”

“Penny, She/Her pronouns today.”

“Okay. This is fine, we can sort out a system where you tell Fri what pronouns and name so I always know.” Tony said as he wrote something on his phone down.

“Why?” She asked voice high with confusion.

“Well Penny it would seem I care about you and what to help you feel better anyway possible.” He answered like it was nothing.

“Oh,” was all she could say to that.

“Yeah. So Penny we are going to write a little coding for this new feature of Fri. After food of course. Does May know?”

“Yeah I told her a couple years ago, is Pepper here? I want to tell her today too. And maybe Rhodey. Wait do they understand genders?”

“Pepper is here in her office. And they both know a lot about gender identity as I forced everyone to learn about them a few years ago. It was a whole thing in the tower. I found out about a trans employee being threatened by coworkers so I went on a little thing,”

Penny looked up surprised. Tony didn’t seem like the type to be like that at all. He seemed like someone to ignore everything unless it effected him personally.

“That’s really amazing of you. Not many people would do that,” she answered truthfully as food was announced by Friday.

“Yeah I gathered but It was very interesting to learn about. Saved me a few times when I was being called out for my policies,”

“I want to tell Pepper and Rhodey then. And Happy too if he’s here.”

“We can do it over dinner if you want. It’s going to be Mexican I think. Invite May over too if you want,”

Penny nodded and the room fell to silence as they ate. Her mind wandered to what she would say to the others.


	7. The Aftermath

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When Tony sacrifices himself for his family how will they cope?
> 
> Trigger Warning, talks of self hatred, self loathing, death and alcohol.

Gone. He’s gone and never coming back. Peter just got him back and now his dads been killed. Died in his arms with his mom beside him.

He saved the world but it cost him his life. It cost Peter and Morgan their dad and Pepper her husband. It cost Happy, Rhodey and so many others a friend. It cost the world a defender. It cost an amazing man who done so much for the world.

Peter was sitting in the lab, Morgan had gone to bed only a few hours earlier. Pepper was upstairs crying, Peter wanted to help her but he couldn’t even help himself at this point.

He just wants his dad back but he’s never coming home. Gone. He saved the world but died. And a part of Peter died along with him.

He hadn’t been Spider-Man since that day, he hadn’t been outside the house since the funeral and he hasn’t seen his friends since they all got back.

Harley has stayed with them for a few days, they all cried together about the past. Morgan didn’t seem to get it in the first few days but she’s been sadder than usual these past few days Peter seen.

He promised to himself that he would never leave her, never leave her wondering if he’ll be back after a patrol. That’s why he won’t go. He’s scared to leave his family again.

He stared across the table and into Tony’s cupboard, a bottle of unopened vodka was sitting there. Something in Peter made him want to go and grab it. Drink it and try to get drunk. Try to forget. Forget everything.

Walking slowly over to the cupboard drawer he opened it and took the bottle. He hadn’t had a drink in his life, he knew it wouldn’t effect him with the mutations he’s got but it was worth a try.

Opening it up he took a drink and grimaced. He hated the taste but didn’t care. Tony liked this so he could if he tried. He took another few drinks, it still burned the back of his throat but he was starting to like it.

He moved over to the couch and got FRIDAY to play videos of The Avengers. He drank and cried as he spotted Tony, Natasha and Steve all laughing on the ground, alive and happy as they could be.

He cried as Tony talked about coming back to him and Pepper, cried as Natasha became family to him. He hated how much family he had lost over the war. He lost his dad, aunt, uncle and brother.

He lost them all and they were never coming home. Never coming home. Never. Coming. Home.

“Peter, I have a message that Boss wanted me to show you. Shall I play it?” Her voice was quiet, soft and it helped Peter nod slowly.

In the silence Tony then appeared as a projection. He smiled at the couch and looked sad.

“Hey kid. How you been? I’m sorry I left but I needed to get you back for Pepper and Morgan. We missed you too much and I’m sorry that resulted in me leaving. But I’m always here kid. In everything you do I will be right beside you, every time you go out in there and I’m here for you now. I really think you should stop drinking and crying. I know I left you but I need you to be there for Pep and Morgan. I need you to tell her stories of me and make sure it’s the good ones kid. I’m proud of you son and I always will be okay. I love you 3000 Pete,”

Peter was crying again. Hard, violent sobs that were shaking his entire body. He knew Tony didn’t want him to drink or become a shell of a person but he didn’t know how to survive without his dad. He was always there. Every invention, every creation, every birthday or celebration. Every day. He missed him too much.

Peter heard a few steps coming from the stairs but didn’t look up. It was probably Pepper coming to check on him. He was shocked when he felt the hands of Morgan pulling him into a small hug. He was still sobbing his heart out and Morgan was crying too. The two held each other until they stopped crying.

Peter looked dien to Morgan who was sadly looking at Peter and the bottle of vodka next to him. Peter loved it far away and pulled Morgan up for a better hug.

“Hey kiddo. I’m sorry if I woke you,”

“I was already awake. I was talking to daddy. Why are you awake?”

Peter felt a sob at her words. She talked to him when she couldn’t sleep. Peter does that too.

“I wasn’t feeling tired. I came down to see if I could work on something.”

“Can I help! I loved helping daddy build things!” Morgan jumped up and pulled Peters hand to the work table.

“Okay. What should we work on?” Peter asked slowly. He was still unsure with how to act around his sister.

“Whatever you want. Maybe we can build something for mommy. She’s really sad like us but she would be happy with a present I think.” Peter smiled at her words. She was so young, unburdened with the pain of the world. He wanted her to stay this age and never change.

“Okay. We can build her something. Any ideas?” He asked as they sat down to work on blueprints.

“Daddy was working on something before he left. He said she would love it. Can we finish that?” Peter didn’t know if he was ready for that. Help finish a present from his dad. He hadn’t even fully understood what had happened.

“Boss always kept a folder of things he wanted to make Pepper with the help of both of you. May I suggest starting there?” Fridays voice spoke to the two. Morgan nodded at this and started talking away on the table.

She pulled up a blueprint to a small photo frame. Peter had a look at it all and smiled at Morgan.

“Okay. Safety first. Goggles on, hair up and get that coat on!” Peter said as he pulled two coats towards them.

Morgan grabbed the personalized goggles for the both of them as Peter helped put her hair up. The two put their goggles on and Peter looked at his. They were Spider-Man themed but had his initials carved into the legs. Morgan’s were pale pink and blue with her initials on them.

“So we can get it all set up tonight and if we have time we can cut the materials okay?” Peter said to Morgan who nodded and looked to Peter for instructions.

The two worked together amazingly. Peter occasionally has to help her put the correct thing down but she was a little genius. Tony’s mid was definitely in her and same with his language. For a five year old she knew some swear words.

“You gotta watch the mouth Morgana, Mom could hear you!”

“Daddy said hem all the time. He told me not to say them in front of mommy because they were her words,”

Peter laughed at that. It was such a Tony thing to say.

“Okay. Well how far do you think we are? Could we finish it tonight?” Morgan looked at their work and then back to the plan. They had almost finished everything all they had to do was place the screen into a frame.

“We can finish it tonight I think. We just need to fit a frame around it and paint it.” Peter nodded and helped Morgan off the chair.

They had picked out a wooden frame and were cutting it when they heard Pepper come down the stairs. Peter was a bit scared it was around 3am and here he was letting Morgan work in the lab.

Pepper was standing at the bottom of the stairs looking at her kids staring wide eyed at her in fear.

“I’m not going to say anything. I’m just going to sleep on the couch down here to be careful,” She finally said as she moved over to the couch and lay down. She carefully watched the two who had already got back to work.

Peter was careful with cutting the wood as he didn’t want Morgan to get hurt on his watch. He looked over to Pepper who was watching him carefully the two then looked over to the open bottle of vodka on the floor.

He could feel the disappointment radiating off Pepper, his smile dropped but he still helped Morgan paint the frame they had cut. They decided on yellow and red as a memory of Tony and his suit.

They worked in silence for an hour or so. Waiting for the paint to dry and getting all the photos and videos programmed onto the photo screen. They had allowed FRIDAY to put extra photos, and videos when she took them. They had finally finished their project after 6 hours of work.

Morgan was slowing down slightly as they finished assembling the frame so Peter helped put her on the couch beside Pepper as he wrapped the present up for her.

He toon a look back to his family and headed up the stairs onto the perch. He looked out onto the water and sighed. Tony and Pepper always said how they wanted to leave the city, get a small cabin and be normal. They got that dream for 5 years before Tony died. Sometimes he thought it would have been better if Tony put the thought of time travel to the back of his head. Left it alone to be a family with Morgan and Pepper. But he wouldn’t. He had to save everyone. Had to save his son he said.

Peter was reason that Tony died. Natasha died. Steve died. He was the reason all those people on the battlefield died that day. He was the reason Morgan had to grow up without a dad. And Pepper lost her soulmate. Peter hated himself for it. He knew Tony was never coming home but he wished he would. Wish he would walk into the cabin laughing about a joke Rhodey said. Or working on a project when he was meant to be sleeping. He just wants his Dad back. He needs him back. He would do anything for him to come back.

He stayed awake staring at the lake until Pepper came out to find him. It was now around 8am. Only two hours since he left them in the lab.

“Peter I’m here for you. You can always talk to me about anything you want to you know,” They both knew what she was talking about. He hated himself for disappointing her but he needed to try something to be close to Tony again.

“How do you do it mom? I can’t go a day without crying. Hating myself that he’s gone and I’m here. I can’t do it. I need him back.” Peter broke down to her again. She held him as he cried into her.

“I know Peter. I miss him so much but the last thing I told him was that we would be okay. I live everyday known he’s watching over us. Knowing that he left two amazing children here to teach the world about kindness. He knew what he was doing when he tried to get you back and he succeeded and he was so happy. He loves you Peter we all do and he couldn’t rest without having you back here with us.”

Peter was crying as Pepper talked to him. He felt useless like everything he done would end up in death and destruction.

“I’m sorry mom. I didn’t know what I was doing last night the bottle was there and I wanted to forget the pain. I wanted to think he was still there. I’m sorry,” his eyes showed how much he hated himself and it broke Pepper.

“It’s okay Peter. I understand and I know you didn’t want to. You know your dad hated drinking. He done it because he was told to when he was younger. I don’t think he would like you trying to be like his younger years either,” Pepper explained to her son who nodded.

“Yeah I know. He told me. He left me a message for if I ever drank something. That’s when Morgan came down to see me. I’m sorry about keeping her up too,” Pepper laughed softly.

“Of course he left a message. And you didn’t keep her up she was going to be up all night talking to Tony if you didn’t distract her. She’s been doing it a lot recently.”

“It helps. I do it when I don’t know what to do. It’s like he’s right there with me. And I know in someway he is. Sometimes talking helps with my thoughts too. Gets to full on there so I need to empty it all out and he would listen to my rambles about quantum physics and Star Wars theory’s,” Peter said to Pepper who nodded softly.

“Yeah I understand that. I think that’s the same with Morgan. You two are too smart for me to understand much. I’m always here to listen to you but you might need to explain a bit more.” Pepper explained as he smiled.

“Yeah I know mom. I’ll be okay soon. I’ll be able to help with the company more and then I can go into the real world again. I’m just needing to get used to being here again.”

“I know. We all need to get used to it all. And the company is going to wait until you are ready so don’t rush into anything okay.”

The two nodded too each other as they watch the sun rise over the land. Peter spitted the glint of Tony’s plot of land where he was buried. His original arc reactor laying on it. The flowers from yesterday lay on the stone which had his name engraved.

_Here lies_

_Tony Stark._

_Loving father, husband,_

_Best friend and superhero._

_He saved the world and_

_expected nothing in return._

_May 29 1970- April 26 2023_


	8. Parker Comes Out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Parker comes out to his family, it’s fluffy and is basically me projecting onto them all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the formatting I’m on my phone right now. 
> 
> Triggers are; deadnaming by accident, self hatred if you squint 
> 
> FTM Peter Parker but he goes by Parker instead.

Tony sighed. He was used to Rose being happy and bubbly in the lab but something was wrong. She wasn't smiling. Wasn't rambling on about Ned and Star Wars. She didn't even mention working on the Spider suit. He was going to get it out of her but he didn't know how.

"Hey dad could you help me weld this together please?" Rose asked him, pulling him out his thoughts. She was looking up at him with a smile but her eyes were pained.

"Of course sweetheart. What should I do?" He asked as he walked over to the desk. The two worked in perfect harmony, a machine that had been perfected, working for years in peace.

They had finished with the welding and started working on their individual projects when Rose got a message and left the room to phone someone.

Tony hates himself for doing it but he might have listened in to the conversation.

"Hey Ned, what's up?"

"Wait really? I can't believe that! Do you think I can come over and help?"

"I'll ask and swing over."

She must have put it on speaker for a second by accident because Tony then heard Ned saying.

"You better hurry Parker!" Then it was silence. Ned has always called Rose her name and never Parker. It was weird to Tony but he left it as maybe a new nickname thing they had started. But it was at the back of his mind.

Rose came bounding in smiling as Tony looked over. Her smile was back.

"Hey dad can I go over to Neds please? He got a new LEGO set and it looks amazing!"

"Of course sweetheart. Be home for 11pm and it you want to go out patrolling text me and keep comms on too!" He shouted to her as she ran out the room and up to their living space.

——

Rose looked down in the mirror and frowned. She didn't know what was wrong with her but she hated the site of herself. Ned said something about Body Dysmorphia but she really didn't know.

It hurt to see the body she had, the long hair that she always had pulled up in a ponytail. Her hips which were to wide and the way her chest looked. It was to girly and she hated it.

Grabbing an oversized hoodie and throwing it over her head she pulled on her favorite converse and ran out the room. She passed her mom and uncle so waved goodbye to them as she shouted "Ned" to them.

They also shouted a goodbye and she was on her way down the elevator to the lobby. An intern got on and they exchanged hellos and when it stopped at the lobby Rose ran out the door with a grin on her face.

She ran across the street and into the alleyway, pulling her mask on and her webshooters she pulled herself up to the buildings roof and webbed her way to Neds which only took 10 minutes. And most of that was flips in the air when someone shouted up to her.

She landed on Neds rooftop and pulled the mask off. She left the webshooters on and walked into the stairway to his apartment. Knocking once on the door and opening it she was greeted with the smell of Mexican food.

"Smells good Jane!" She said unto the kitchen where Jane smiled at her and nodded a thanks.

Rose walked over to Neds room and looked inside. He was siting in the bed texting someone. Plopping herself on the ground he looked over with a smile.

"Parker how I've missed you." He said as he too slid onto the ground grabbing at the LEGO box. It was the Death Star and they were both excited to start it.

"Dude! This looks amazing!" Rose said looking at it in amazement. Ned smiled and nodded.

"I know dude. It's got so much cool shit. I can't wait to build it!"

The two split up the work and played some music as they worked. The occasionally asked for help with a piece they couldn't get but other than that it was a comfortable silence between the two friends.

This silence gave Rose some time to think. She knew she hated her body and how it looked. Hated the was she had to look a certain way for the galas she went to. She did like when Ned called her Parker and dude but how would she actually say that to him. Parker was a nickname after someone at school started it. She had been thinking about cutting her hair too. Maybe like Neds.

She didn't feel comfortable being called Rose and girl but she didn't know why. Why did she hate it all the time? Why did she hate the sweethearts from her dad? The Princess's from her uncles.

Deep down she knew but it couldn't be. Could it? Was she really? Maybe Ned could help.

Or he could be disgusted in her. Turn her away and she could go back to being alone again. She left it for another day to work out. Because it was hurting to think about.

"Ned, Rose! Foods ready." Jane shouted from the kitchen. The two put down their work and walked out to the table. They sat down and started to discuss the progress they had made. They had worked out that they were a quarter the way done and would finish it by 8pm if they worked at the same speed. Then Rose would go out for a patrol with Ned helping on comms.

The two discussed school and YouTube as they ate. Jane occasionally said something to the two and they agreed to her. They finished the tortillas and meat and the drinks they had. Thanking Jane they wandered back into Neds room and played the music as they continued building. This time Rose didn't let her thoughts wander. It would cause to much drama in her mind if she did.

"Parker do you kind me calling you Parker?" Net asks after an hour of music and building. Rose looked taken back but shook her head.

"I prefer it to Rose" she finally said. It wasn't a lie and it didn't reveal anything, or so she thought.

"Okay cool. Do you want me to change anything else I call you?" Ned was asking about something in particular she could sense it.

"Like?" She asked in confusion.

"Pronouns, dude or lad when I'm talking to others?" He finally said after a few seconds of thinking.

"Oh. I don't know. I like being called dude and all that. But pronouns I haven't really thought about. Why?" She asked. Her mind wandering back to the revelation she previous had.

"I don't know. I just thought I should ask as MJ was telling me about pronouns and misgendering people by accident and not knowing." He explained to her as if it was a normal conversation.

"Oh okay. Do you want me to change anything for you?"

"No I'm Ned He and Him pronouns. That's how MJ said to say it, I think." He was unsure of this but with a smile left the conversation for another time. But Rose was left thinking. She didn't start building again and Ned looked up anxiously.

"You okay dude?" He asked cautiously. Scared to set her off.

"I don't know Ned." She said slowly. Not looking up from the floor.

"Why don't you explain what you are honking to me" Ned said as if it was the easiest thing to do.

"I can't. I don't even know what I'm thinking. It's stupid. Dumb. Nothing really we should finish building this" Rose mumbled out. Not convincing herself as she said it.

"Parker come on. You can tell me anything you know that." Ned said as he put his LEGO away from them. Giving a clear view of each other.

"You know how you said about the body thing? The one where I hate my body and how it looks?"

"Yeah. Body Dysmorphia, do you still think this?" Ned asked his friend.

"Uh yeah. But it's worse. I can't even shower without wanting to cry now. When I'm out patrolling I feel better because people think I'm a boy. But I'm not."

Ned looked over and smiled softly.

"Parker. Have you ever heard of Transgender?"

"Yeah. It's when you change gender. I think"

"Kind of. It's when you are born in the wrong body. Like Caitlyn Jenner. She was born in a mans body but is a female right?" Ned said to Rose who nodded.

"Okay. Do you think you were born in the wrong body?" He asked slowly. Not sure how to approach this topic of conversation.

"Yeah Ned. I'm not a girl. I hate it. I hate the way I look and the way I'm expected to act. I want to cut my hair, be flat and be a boy." Ned looked sadly at his friend. They were hurting and don't know why.

"Well maybe you are transgender? You have to go to the doctors to get a diagnosis but it's okay. It will be okay Parker."

"Okay. Okay. I can do this. Thanks Ned. You really helped me man,"

"Any time dude. So should I keep calling you Parker?"

Rose thought. She hated her name. And being called "she" and "her". Smiling he spoke.

"Yeah. I'm Parker and I go by He and Him pronouns," he said as Ned nodded.

"Okay. Hello Parker, I'm Ned, also he, him pronouns." The two laughed for a second. Getting back to building in silence.

Parker smiled. In the first time since he can remember he was happy. He had a friend who understood him and he understood himself. But something was still off. He didn't know what yet.

The boys finished the LEGO model at around 9pm as they stopped a few times for breaks and their talk added an hour on. By the end both were shattered and Parker really couldn't be bothered going out patrolling for too long so decided to go out for an hour only.

They had it all set up. He would connect with Tony and Ned both would tell him where to go if needed. But it was a free flying patrol today.

He stopped one mugging and helped a few people get home in the dark. He stopped a stabbing and helped a kid get the help he needed for a drug addiction. Feeling better he told Tony and Ned he was headed back to Neds apartment. Not much of interest happened on the way back so he was home by 10:15pm.

Changing into normal clothes he sat with Ned and talked about the webshooters and the updates needed. At 10:45 he said goodbye to Ned and Jane and headed home. He took the webs and was home in 15 minutes as he stopped to help a bird back to its nest.

When he arrived home everyone was still awake and in the living room so he changed into a shirt and shorts and sat with them for a bit.

They were watching a comedy or something and he got bored pretty easily so sat on his phone for a while until he felt like he was falling asleep.

"I'm going to head to bed. Night guys," he received many goodnight in reply and a kiss from his mom and dad. He headed into his bedroom and flopped on the bed. Running a hand through his hair he sighed.

"Fri set a reminder to ask about a hair cut please,"

"Of course Mini Boss, goodnight," the AI turned the lights off and shut the blinds and all of a sudden Parker was left in darkness and the silence he used to love.

"Fri could you put white noise on please. Anything but the silence and lights to 10% please,"

The AI listened and done as asked and as she did Parker smiled. So much better. He could see slightly and the noise lulled him to sleep.

——

He woke up the next morning with the light slowly seeping through the window and the noise of his family talking in the other room.

He sighed and got up. Friday pulled up his reminders and calendar on his tablet. He swiped most of it but the reminder he set the night before. The hair cut.

He would mention it to his parents. Use the excuse about lab safety and feeling more mature if It was shorter. It should work.

He had a quick shower, changed into his favorite outfit; black skinny jeans, white shirt he stole from Tony and Neds jumper. It was big on him but he loved it all the same.

Walking out the room and into the living area he smiled at his small family. Tony, Pepper, Rhodey, Happy, Vision and Natasha.

His parents, Tony and Pepper, has allowed Tasha and Vision to stay and become family after the civil war because Tasha explained herself and Vision told them what had happened. He was lucky Rhodey was nice and forgave him for his legs or Tony wouldn't have.

"Hey Rose. How are you?" Pepper asked. And he smiled a little.

"I'm good mom. How are you all?"

He received a chorus's of "goods" and his dads usual "tired" as an answer. He smiled at this and grabbed a slice of toast he was handed. Biting into it everyone returned to the conversation they were having about something boring and Parker pulled out his phone. MJ send a message about the year starting soon and AcaDec.

MJ to Rose.

Yo loser are you still in for AcaDec?

Rose to MJ

Yeah. Also can I meet you before school starts. I wanna tell you something

MJ to Rose

Yeah sure. Give me a date and time I'll be at yours. Or we can do it somewhere else

Rose to MJ

Here's fine. I'll clear it with my mom. Thanks

MJ to Rose

Of course loser. I'm going to go and finish reading my book see you

Parker put his phone down and looked to his mom. She was sipping her coffee as Tony and Rhodey argues about time-travel. It seemed it was about the Doctor Who version.

"Mom would I be able to invite MJ over soon?" Start easy. He's never gotten a haircut as short as he wants so it's better to start softly.

"Of course princess. Just tell her to bring the badge she's got." Parker nodded and looked back to his phone. Natasha looked over sensing something was wrong.

She had always been able to see right through him. And he knew she knew something was wrong.

"I've got to ask you something Rose. Would you be able to have a look at my widow bites? They've malfunctioned after I got shot." Parker looked over and nodded at this he loved working on the widow bites.

"Cool. I'll go get them. You want to come?" It wasn't a question. It was a way for her to get Parker out to question him.

"Yeah sure. Give me a minute." He said to her and she nodded. He finished his breakfast and grabbed extra food, not knowing how long the questioning would take.

He followed her into her room and they both sat in the bed.

"So what's up?" She asked him innocently.

"Not much. Why?" He responded. Trying hard to act like he was normal. Like he wasn't hiding a huge ass fucking secret from her.

"Cut the bullshit. I know somethings wrong" Peter sighed. He never knew why he tried to hide anything from her. She was insane at reading people.

"I want a hair cut but I'm scared to ask mom and dad." He finally said. It wasn't a lie but just evading telling the whole truth.

"Okay. And what else? You've had hair cuts before what's different?" She asked confused for once about this.

"I want it really short. Like dads" he explained to her as she nodded.

"Okay. I still don't see why you are stressing out over this. They will let you cut your hair. It's your hair," Natasha told him. Letting him realize he was being stupid.

"Yeah you're right. It's just a haircut!" He blew it. Her eyes narrowed and he felt his thoughts being looked through, even if she really wasn't. It felt like that.

"So what is it? Why the short haircut? You keeping something else from me?" She questioned. Parker got goosebumps from the look.

"Uh nothing Tasha. Just a haircut," he said to quickly. Just wanting out this conversation. He felt his eyes start stinging, the first sign he was going to cry.

"Okay. So if you got this haircut would you keep it this length forever?" He hadn't actually thought about it fully. He just wanted a haircut.

"Uh yeah probably. I mean I don't know. I mean yeah?" He mumbled out, stumbling over his words as he spoke.

"Okay. Are you going to tell me what you are keeping from us?" He wanted to scream at her. Tell her she didn't need to know everything that it was his life. But he didn't.

"Yeah. But I don't know how." He said softly. He wanted to but it terrified him. He had only just understood it himself and told one person who basically told him what it was.

"Would it help if you text it to me?" He nodded at the suggesting and pulled out his phone. He clicked Tashas name and typed.

His eyes reread the message at least 10 times and he moved over to the send button but he couldn't click it. Not yet. He was terrified still and shaking. His hand couldn't stay still.

With one final look over the message and a look at Tasha he send it. Then he ran out the room and into his room down the hall.

He threw his body on the ground and crawled under the bed. It was a spot he knew could fit him and it helped calm him down after panic attacks. And he felt one coming.

He heard a message come through on his phone and knew it was Tasha. It was the Itsy Bitsy Song which he gave to her. He fished his phone out his pocket and closed his eyes.

This was it. The message which could change his life for better or worse.

Parker to Tasha

I'm not a girl. I'm a boy. I'm transgender and I want to go by He/Him pronouns. I'm also going by Parker right now. Please don't hate me. No one but Ned and you know. Please don't tell anyone. I'm sorry

Tasha to Parker

I'm so proud of you for telling me. It must be terrifying but I'm here for you Parker. I'm never leaving and I would never tell anyone. Do you want me to come see you?

Parker to Tasha

Thabks Tasha. Hrlp pls. Roim noq

He didn't receive a message back but his door was knocked on and then Tasha called through. She opened it and looked around for him.

"Where are you kid?" It felt nice being called Kid instead of sweetie.

"Under the—underthebed Tasha" he called out. Stumbling as he panicked. He was trying to contain himself.

His bed was pushed away and he felt someone kneel beside him. And then hold his shoulders as he shook. He cried into her and she held him through it all. After he stopped shaking he looked at her through his tears.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I didn't mean too. I'm sorry," he repeated to her as he cried more.

"Parker it's okay. I'm here and I'm never leaving. Never in a thousand years. It's us two against the others. Spiders forever,"

"Spiders-" hiccup "forever" hiccup. He was still crying but it was starting to calm down as Tasha held him close and kept repeating words to him.

"It's okay kid. It's okay. You are okay." Over and over to him until he had stopped crying so hard. He looked up to her and tried to smile but couldn't.

"It's okay Parker. You are safe and you are always safe. Nod if you can understand me" she said to him softly as she stroked his head.

He nodded to her and she sighed in relief.

"Okay. We are going to sit here in the dark for a bit so you can recharge. That was bad but know I love you and would never stop loving you." She explained to him as he nodded in understanding.

Friday set the room to overload settings. Which means 5% lights and very quiet white noise that Tasha couldn't hear but Parker could.

The two sat in silence for around an hour. Friday was giving reports to the others ever 10 minutes. Leaving out the conversations and just saying it was a sensory overload he got. Tony was stressing out but he knew he couldn’t do anything until Rose told him what was wrong.

During the hour of no contact from Natasha and Rose he had had 9 coffees, reorganized his folders and started looking through documents he hated. Pepper and Rhodey were discussing something on the couch and Vision was in the kitchen trying to perfect his cooking still.

On the room Parker and Natasha were getting ready to leave the room and venture into the living area. Natasha was worried about her nephew and hated not being able to help him more but Parker knew she was there for him no matter what.

“Okay kid. You ready?” She asked him as they sat on the bed. His hands fluttering around. He didn’t look confident at all but he nodded softly.

They stood up and Parker took her arm as a stabilizer and safety net to protect himself. They walked out the room and into the living area where everyone looked up at them. Tony looked shit in the nicest way possible, and Pepper and Rhodey looked concerned but Vision looked over to the two and floated over giving both a cup of coffee made how they like it.

“Thanks Vis,” he said as Tasha nodded her thanks. The two moved over to the couch and sat down. Followed by Tony who sat beside Parker and Vision who sat beside Rhodey.

“Are you okay Rose?” Pepper asked and Parker looked down sadly at the name. He was beginning to hate it more and more every time someone used it.

“Not really mom.” Was all he said. He could see Tony’s mind spinning and the concern in Peppers eyes. Rhodey looked to Natasha who nodded to let him know he was okay. Or he would be soon.

“Do you want to tell us why? It’s okay if you don’t want to.” She told him, resting her hand on his leg. Parker looked over to his mom sadly. He didn’t want to tell anyone else. He never wanted to come out again but he had to. He knew if he didn’t tell them that he would never be happy.

“You don’t have to tell them all now kid. You can do it individually,” Natasha whispered into his ear and he nodded. He knew he could but it was so much easier telling them all at once.

“I want to. I need to.” Was all he could say to her he wanted to get this over with.

“Can I get a hair cut?” Was all he could say. Everyone looked on in confusion at this. Pepper looked at him and frowned.

“Yeah of course. Is that what’s wrong?” Her voice held concern in it. He was getting there.

“Not really. I don’t like my name. I don’t like being a girl?” He said. Turning it into more of a question by the end. Natasha grabbed his hand and held it, grounding him from his panicking again. He could feel it swelling up as the realization dawned on everyone.

“Oh okay. Is that all?” Tony finally said to him. He looked over shocked at the reaction. He never guessed that it would go down okay.

“Yeah? Why aren’t you mad? People should be mad shouldn’t they?” He asked confused. Tony and Pepper frowned at this.

“Why would we be mad? We love you for who you are not who you aren’t. But you get to exhale now. You get to be more you than you have been in, in a very long time. You deserve everything you want.” Pepper said to him as he held Tashas hand.

Tony moves closer to him and pulled him into a hug which he leaned into. Pepper joined in as well and then everyone was hugging him. Telling him that they loved him for him.

“Okay. This is very cute but introductions are needed!” Tony told them all as they moved out the hug. “I’m Tony, he/ him pronouns.”

“Pepper, I use She/Her pronouns,” she looked to Rhodey who smiled.

“Rhodey, and He/Him pronouns.” He spoke time the group, smiling to Parker as he finished.

“I’m Vision and I don’t really use pronouns but I like He and Him,” he said after a second of thinking.

“I’m Natasha or Tasha and I use She/Her pronouns,” she said, everyone turning to Parker for his turn to speak.

Parker nodded and smiled. “I’m going by Parker right now and I like he and him pronouns.” He finally said to his family who nodded at him.

“Okay Parker welcome to the family. We can get that hair cut you want and maybe a new closet of clothes! Shopping trip soon.” Tony said excitedly, he really loved shopping it was funny to see. Parker nodded and looked at his family. They all loved him, now one last person to tell. MJ.

——

MJ was getting ready to leave for the Tower. They had been experimenting with pronouns in their head for a while and educating the self on everything possible and decided to stick with They/Them pronouns right now. It was fitting really the teenager who hated the government and all the constructs created by society had denied having a gender.

They were going to tell Rose and Ned soon, so decided to get Rose over with today. If she didn’t accept them then they would have Ned who was accepting of this right?

It was starting to freak them out. Hating the idea of coming out already. It was fucking terrifying. Even for them.

Walking out the house, their parents gone already for work, and heading for the subway. It was a boring commute, people watching a sketching filling up the hours journey. Teaching the station they stood up and left, crossing the street and heading up the small stretch of road to the Tower.

They looked up at it and smiled. It was the perfect symbol of privilege and knowing you had it. Tony Stark made the tallest tower in New York to say he had it. Created the clean energy source to say he had it. And Man respected that. They used to hate Stark but after meeting the man and discussing policies for minorities and global warming for an hour Stark seemed himself good enough for them.

Entering the building they wandered over to the security and pulled out the badge Pepper had given them before. Security looked confused at it but let them pass.

“Good morning MJ. Shall I tell Mini Boss you are here?” Friday asked them as they entered the elevator.

“Sure Friday. Who’s here today?” They asked as they moved up the building. It was still amazing to be in the Tower which always looked over their house.

“Mini Boss, Boss, Lady Boss, Vision, Rhodey and Natasha, are all in today. Mini Boss has said to wait in the living area,” She said and MJ nodded. They were observant and knew that Friday had avoided using pronouns for Rose. Only calling her Mini Boss. Maybe it was a new update or something. But MJ knew.

The doors opened and MJ stepped out. Tony and Pepper were in the kitchen. Vision was floating at the window reading a book and Rhodey and Natasha were no where to be seen.

“Hello MJ! How are you?” Tony asked from the kitchen. Moving to look at them better. MJ walked over to them both.

“I’m good Stark. How are you?” They asked, Tony smiling at the nickname they had always used for him.

“I’m good. Bit busy today so I will be leaving but.. Rose should be out in a minute.” He stumbled over Roses name for a split second but MJ heard it. And knew something was different.

“Okay. How are you Pepper?” They asked to their idol. She smiled. MJ was practically dying inside but hid it well.

“I’m also good but busy. Tony’s been ignoring important meetings again so I’m getting it from the CEOs again.” She complained and Tony just looked over innocently.

“The meetings are just so boring. I can’t randomly say something that pops into my head and I hate that.” He complained like a five year old. MJ stifled a laugh at this but Pepper laughed in his face.

“That’s quite rude honey. Rhodey wouldn’t treat me like this,” this took MJ off guard. They knew that Tony had a past but to openly joke about it was different. It made them want to be open.

“Well go be with him then. Maybe I’ll get some peace from you.” Pepper jokes back to which Tony looked off in the distance.

“Fine Pep. But I’m taking the kids!” He said dramatically adding he left the kitchen. Pepper and MJ both laughed at this and watched him leave.

“He’s pretty dramatic,” MJ finally said, Pepper nodded in agreement and they sat in silence for a few seconds until Parker came out his room.

MJ looked over and their jaw dropped. Roses hair was now like Neds. Short, and styled. She was wearing a whole new outfit too.

“Hey MJ. How are you?” Parker asked, nerves all over the place. MJ just looked shocked but quickly changed their face into the normal facade.

“I’m good. How are you?” MJ asked also nervous. For the same reason but the two didn’t know that.

“That’s good. You want to come in my room? We need to talk about something.” Parker asked and MJ just nodded. Not trusting their voice.

“Okay. Well you two I’m off, Tony’s already left I think but he’s in the lab if you need him. Rhodey and Natasha are in the gym so call anyone if you need us. Vision is also here somewhere I think the living area,” Pepper said to the two. She kissed Parker’s head and then waved to MJ who waved back.

She left the living area and entered the elevator. The two teenagers stood awkwardly until Parker started to walk into his room. MJ following.

“MJ I need to tell you something. And I’m terrified about doing this so I’m just going to go for it. Please don’t hate me. But I’m a boy,” he said as they sat on his bed.

MJ didn’t look that shocked but he guessed her facade was still up and she was actually going through many emotions.

“Okay cool. Name and pronouns?” MJ asked the boy in front of them.

“Parker and he/him please. Why are you so calm?” Was all that he could ask. He wanted to know what she was thinking.

“Well I’ve been researching myself and I actually wanted to tell you something too. I’m Agender. I go by They and Them pronouns.” They explained to the other.

The two sat in silence until Parker just laughed. Then MJ joined in. They laughed for a minute or two.

“Only we would come out to each other at the same time. I’m glad you told me MJ.” He told them.

“I planned it so badly. I didn’t k ow how to tell you and I’m glad you told me,” they said to the boy who laid down on his bed. They lay beside him staring up at the roof.

“Who else knows?” He asked them quietly, “I don’t want to put you to anyone.”

“Only you. I didn’t know if anyone would understand it. What about you?”

“You, Ned and my family. Ned basically explained it to me a few nights ago and I told Natasha after had a pretty bad panic attack from that. Then the rest were told. Now you.”

“Yeah I was talking to Ned about gender the other day. He was really interested in it all. I’m glad he helped you. I’m going to tell him soon.” They said, sounding scared already b

“I’ll be here for you if you need the support. It’s fucking terrifying telling people. And I never want to do it again,” Parker replied. Moving to get comfortable.

“I fee you on that. I just want everyone to know already and it to be normal.” MJ complained. Sitting up to speak better.

“Yeah. Also I’m Spider-Man.” He said, looking to his friend for their reaction. Hit MJ laughed softly.

“I know Parker. You are really bad at keeping that a secret.” They said as hitting him with their hand jokingly.

The two laughed and talked for hours until MJ had to leave. Parker was tired after going through so much emotions the past few days so wandered into the living area where his dad and mom were cuddling. He walked over and plopped himself between them demanding cuddles.

The small family stayed like that all night, cuddling and sleeping, and it made Parker realize how lucky he was.


	9. Tony needs Help with Peter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter has a small flashback and hurts Tony. Tony calls in for backup. Fluffy ending so it’s okay. 
> 
> Triggers include: minor panic attack, minor mention of blood.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not proofread, also Australia is burning so please raise awareness and if you can donate!

Peter lay in his bed. Tony has sent him up from the lab after he dropped something. He didn't mean it but his senses were going off for nothing. It felt like something was watching him but he asked FRIDAY and nothing was in the building. Tony said he was too tired and needed sleep but here he was to awake for sleeping.

His skin was crawling and he could t stop it. He needed a distraction. "Fri can you play very loud music please?"

"I'm sorry Peter but Boss has shut you out from my use until the morning. Would you like to talk until you fall asleep?" Her voice sounding regretful towards Peter.

"No thanks Fri. I just need fresh air," Peter climbed out his bed and up to his window. He opened it and crawled out. He sat in the makeshift seat he had created out of webbing a few weeks ago.

Even if it was louder and brighter outside it felt safer to him. No walls. No way of getting crushed. His skin still felt like he had millions of spiders crawling on it. And his brain was pushing against is skull but he was safe.

"Peter I suggest you come back into your room. You are not in the right state of mind to be outside," Friday called out to him. He came back to himself and realized he had been crying.

"I'm okay. I'm okay. It's okay." Repeated to himself. Trying to pull his thoughts back in.

Nope not going there tonight. Definitely not. Bad place. Bad. Get away.

He pulled his body back into the room, scanning for something he spotted the A/C vent and raced over to it. Pulling the rack off he pushed his body into it. Small. Compact. Can't hurt anyone.

"Peter, breathe. I have contacted Boss. Can you hear me Peter?" A voice said. He didn't know who it was. They were going to hurt him. Going to take him away. Going to hurt him.

"Peter I'm coming up to get you. It's me. Mr Stark. You need to help me here kid." Another voice. Peter was going to get hurt. They would kill him and then his family. He wouldn't be able to save them. He needed to save Mr Stark and Pepper.

A hand reached out to him. He reacted, swinging his fist out, it collided with something and the person fell back. He scrambled out of the vent and ran. He couldn't hear anything but he needed to save Mr Stark. Someone could hurt him.

-

"Boss are you okay? I have contacted Mr Rogers and Mr Barnes for help," Friday said to Tony who was holding his bleeding nose. His kid was freaking out and he made it worse.

"I'm okay, fuck. What's wrong with Pete?"

"My guess is a panic attack with flashbacks sir. He seems to be scared about being attacked and trapped."

"Fuck. Homecoming. We might need more than Stucky to help with this one. Nat might need to be called in." Tony stopped, cleaning his nose as he stood up. The pain had mostly left him now it was he throbbing.

"The three are in the living area. Peter seems to have locked himself in the vent and I am unable to open it."

"Shit. Shit. Okay we've got this. Tell them I'll be a second," he looked around for a blanket. Grabbing one from Peters bed he ran into the living area. Steve, Bucky and Natasha all looked over to him. Concern clear in their faces.

"What happened?" Nat asked as he put the blanket on the couch.

"Peter was having a panic attack so I went to help but he didn't even recognize me. He swung at me to protect himself hen ran. I'm okay. Is he?"

"I'm not sure. He's been repeating things. He needs to save you and Pepper from someone. Thinks the building is going down."

"Flashbacks to Homecoming. I'll explain later he needs to get out though. Talk him down because it's impossible to get in there without the lock off," Tony said as he paced around. He was thinking and then snapped his fingers.

"Peter. If you can here me I know it's scary but I have an idea. Nat you remember that song he loves?"

"Yeah. Should I sing it for him?" She asked looking at Tony who nodded. She shrugged and looked to the vent.

Hey there, Delilah

What's it like in New York city?

I'm a thousand miles away

But, girl, tonight you look so pretty

There was shuffling in the vent. No one knew what was going on up there but she continued to sing.

Yes, you do

Times Square can't shine as bright as you

I swear, it's true

On a normal day Tony would join in with the song. He loved to sing with Nat but no one knew except Peter. But he needed his kid back and in his arms.

Hey there, Delilah

Don't you worry about the distance

I'm right there if you get lonely

Give this song another listen

More shuffling. Bucky looked over and nodded smiling. Tony took that as a good sign. Maybe he was calming down? He hoped so.

Close your eyes

Listen to my voice, it's my disguise

I'm by your side

Tony watched the vents. The shifting had stopped but he could still hear Peters breathing which meant it was still bad. If this didn’t work he didn’t know what he was going to do next.

Oh, it's what you do to me

Oh, it's what you do to me

Oh, it's what you do to me

Oh, it's what you do to me

What you do to me

He hears a click. The vent started to move. Peters head poked out. Tears streaming down his face as he shook. His kid, son was in pain and he couldn’t help.

Hey there, Delilah

I know times are gettin' hard

But just believe me, girl

Someday I'll pay the bills with this guitar

Tony looked up at him and saw him staring at his nose. He tried to shield it from his view but Peter had seen it. Knew something happened and he looked petrified.

“Hey kid. I know you are scared but could you come down here? No one is in danger and you are safe. We are all safe.” Tony said to his kid. Peter didn’t say anything. He just stared at Tony’s nose.

Dammit why didn’t he clean it more before coming out? He’s freaked Peter out again.

“Kid come down please. I’m okay, Peppers okay, Natashas okay, Steve’s okay and Bucky’s okay. We need to see if you are okay now,”

Without saying anything Peter fell out the vent. Not a graceful one that everyone was used too. No he just passed out.

Steve caught him in his arms and placed him on the couch. Tony sat beside him on the floor. Making sure everything was okay. He was breathing, no injuries and he didn’t seem to be in any physical pain.

“Tony you need to get that nose looked at. Peters okay,” Steve spoke to him softly. Not wanting to scare him or Peter.

“I’m not leaving my kid. I’m fine I’ll go later,” he spat out. He didn’t mean the anger but he would apologize later.

Steve understood and backed off. The three of them stood in the kitchen waiting for Peter to wake up.

Only half an hour later he was up and freaking out again. Not as bad as last time but still enough to jump to the ceiling.

“Kid. It’s okay, it’s me Mr Stark and Steve, Nat and Bucky are here. We are safe”

“Mr Stark. Pepper. Natasha. Steve. Bucky. Bruce. Clint. Me. No one else. No one else. Friday would know. No one can hurt me. No one. Mr Stark would protect me.”

Tony’s heart shattered. His kid was scared that someone was in the tower. He should never have shrugged it off earlier. He should have stayed with his kid.

“I’m always going to protect you Peter. I’ll never leave,” he spoke to the kid. Peter looked down and sighed. He was safe. He jumped into Tonys arms.

“Mr Stark. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean too. I had a bad episode and I thought someone was in the tower. I’m sorry.”

“Peter I’m okay. It’s nothing okay. Please don’t apologize. It’s okay,”

“It’s not. I hurt you. I could have killed you. I thought you were trying to kill me. I’m sorry,” he was crying into Tony’s shoulder now. He could have killed his dad.

“It’s okay Peter. I got you. I got you,” Tony repeated time him. Playing with his hair which always calmed him down.

The five sat in the silence. Everyone scared to set Peter off again. Steve and Bucky watched as the kid cried. Reminding them of the time when they woke up screaming from nightmares. Helping the other back to bed, crying all night for everyone they lost. Natasha watched her favorite teenager break. She knew he needed help but he would never go when the appointment was made.

Tony was crying, his kid was hurting and he didn’t know what else to do. He had tried making appointments but he never showed, he tried talking to him but it resulted in panic attacks. The only thing they’ve managed to do was talk about the night. No details. He had to get that from footage off the news.

“I’m sorry for waking you up. I’m okay now. I’ll go to sleep, I promise.” His vice was weak. Not the strong teenager they all knew. Tony thought he could hear everyone’s heart break again.

“Kid we aren’t leaving. You need us here and you know it.” Peter didn’t say anything just nodding. Tony waved he others over and they sat beside them on the couch.

FRIDAY seemed to understand what was going on so she turned Star Wars on. They group watched as Peter continued to cry. Tony didn’t know how much more he could take. Every sob that Peter had made him cry more.

Peter seemed to sense this so held onto Tony harder. Not enough to hurt but enough to show that he was okay.

“I’m okay dad. I’m okay,”

Dad. Dad. The kid called him dad. Tony let out a laugh at this and pulled Peter into a better hug.   
  


“I know son. I know. We are okay,”  
  


Peter fell asleep hugging Tony. His nightmare waking him up making him cry more. Steve and Bucky fell asleep on each other. Natasha stayed up with Tony as they watched Peter.

Tony was terrified. He didn’t know what to do but he would piece it together as they went. He loved his kid to much to deny him anything.


	10. Give Harley Some Love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harley is depressed and sucks at asking for help at the right time 
> 
> Triggers include; mentioned self harm, implied self harm, implied harsh backstory, references suicide and more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Formats weird because I’m on my phone sorry.
> 
> Zucca- pumpkin   
Cuccioli- puppy

Tony focussed on his coffee for about ten minutes. Not even hearing the soft footsteps coming from the corridor behind him.

"Dad are you okay?" Tony nearly jumped out his skin but he knew Friday would alert him to danger in the Tower. Turning around with a smile on his face he gestured for Harley to sit beside him.

The boy jumped over the couch and settled at his dads side, waiting for Tony to talk first.

"What's up zucca?" He smiled as Harley frowned at the nickname.

"It's stupid," Tony's heart broke. He never wanted Harley or Peter thinking something bothering them was stupid.

"It can't be stupid if it's keeping you up kiddo," he said softly as he dragged his hand up to Harley's curls, playing with them.

"It is. Just ignore me," Harley's voice was so soft that Tony could barely hear it. This wasn't working so Tony took the next route.

"You know what's stupid? Steve thinking he can come back in here expecting everything to be the same. Whatever's bothering you is not stupid hun. Never will be okay?"

Harley nodded into his chest, and Tony thought he could feel the tell tale drops of tears through his shirt. Then he knew for sure when his kids shoulders shook from a sob.

"Hey Harls. It's okay. I've got you, your safe, no one can get in here. I'll protect you no matter what."

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry." Harley's voice was shaking as he spoke. Repeating it to the quiet room.

"Don't be sorry kid. You are okay. No matter what," Tony replied, hand playing with his sons curls and holding him close as he cried.

"Do you want to talk about it or get a distraction?" Tony asked seriously. It was something he wanted to be asked when he was younger dealing with anxiety and depression.

"I don't know. I want to but I don't want to at the same time." He responded as his sobs slowly stopped, still crying.

"Okay. Well how about we watch a show and if you want to talk a bit later on we can? Or we can talk right now." Tony responded, expecting his son to avoid talking for a bit longer.

"Now please. I need to," Tony looked down at Harley. He was a bit shocked at the decision but let it the shock fall as he saw his kids face.

"Okay. Let's move to a more comfortable talking position then." And by comfortable he meant face to face but with space for Harley to get up and run if he needed an out in the conversation.

Harley looked around, working out his exit route if needed, he knew Tony always gave him a way out in uncomfortable talks and was thankful. He hated discussions like this one.

"Okay kid. Floors yours," Tony spoke softly. Keeping his arms and legs close to his body to avoid Harley feeling trapped.

"Okay. Uhm thanks for this. I really don't know how to like say this properly and I don't like talking about this kind of thing. And I know you know that but like it's still something I need to tell you. So uhh here goes I guess. I'm depressed," he was looking anywhere except Tony. Something he only done when he was nervous about someone's reaction.

Tony took it all in. The stuttering and the pain in his sons voice. Then the actual issue he wanted to talk about. Depression.

"Thank you for trusting me with this. I know it's not easy to talk about mental health with people. How do you want me to help you?" Tony wasn't sure how to proceed with this one. One of his teenagers he cared deeply for were suffering and he didn't even see it. He felt like a disappointment.

"I don't know. I just, I don't know." Harley said, his voice wavering again. He could feel Tony's stare at him.

"We are both going to discuss this with Pepper soon because she needs to know about this as well. Do you want to talk to a therapist?"

"I guessed Mom would find out soon. And I'm not sure if that would work. I mean I've felt like this for a while and I can usually get passed an episode myself but this one is not letting me. I need help but I don't deserve it,"

Ouch that hurt

Tony looked at his kid, tears threatening to spill down his face. But he couldn't. He had to stay strong for his son.

"I know it feels like that for you Harley but I can assure you that you deserve help as much as anyone else. You have been through trauma as well kid and I shouldn't have guessed you were fine and that's my fault so I'm sorry."

"But there are people out there who need help more than me. Peter has been through so much and he still has that smile every single day. People on the streets are suffering more than me because they don't have a home, a family, or food. I've got everything I need so I shouldn't be fucking depressed but here I am. I don't know what's wrong with me Dad. Please fix me."

"Oh Harley. Come here. Yes you have a home, a family and food but that doesn't mean it cancels out the trauma you faced before you came into our lives. You have faced things I don't even want to think about and you've survived it all. Every single bad day, every time you thought about doing something I don't even want to think about, you survived. And that's amazing okay. You are allowed to be depressed. You are allowed to have emotions because you are human. You don't need fixed okay. You don't need fixed you just need to see that we are all here for you."

Harley just nodded. Tony wasn't sure if he actually understood it but he would remind him until it stuck. He also made a point. Peter had been through a lot yet his smile never faltered no matter what. He would catch up with his other kid later.

"I just don't want to seem like I'm faking . I don't want attention from someone because I could be fine in a few days then it'll seem like I'm lying and I don't want people to think that!" Harley was beginning to fall into hyperventilating again. Tony grabbed his hand in a way to ground him. Squeezing once he waited for Harley's response. Then he felt a squeeze back.

The two repeated the squeezes until Harley was able to see clearly and breathe properly.

"Okay. So I'm going to say something and if you don't like the idea then tell me after okay?"

Harley nodded so Tony continued speaking.

"So we are going to watch horrible tv shows and in the morning we are going to make an appointment to see Jennifer okay. She's a great therapist and will love to meet you. You can tell Pepper or I can up to you. And then we have family cuddle time watching Moana?"

Harley nodded softly throughout Tony's little plan. He didn't really want to tell Pepper yet, she was his mom and he didn't want her to feel as if she was at fault. Because she would think that. And it wasn't her fault and it would never be her fault. He was just cursed with a fucking horrible backstory as he called it.

"I don't want to tell her. I don't want her or you thinking it's your fault because it's not. It's my fault for not being stronger."

"Harley this is not your fault. And never will be. You were handed a shit deal in life and you survived with it. That's incredible but it doesn't mean you left there without being scarred and that's normal. It's okay to have mental health issues and it's okay to not want to tell people. But if you want her to know I can tell her. Or we can wait until you have talked to Jennifer first."

"You tell her. She deserves to know. But please tell her it's not her fault. And I love her and you and Peter still please don't think it's any of your faults!"

"Harley it's okay. It's not our fault, it's not your fault, it's no ones fault. Your mind just has an illness like my heart does. But it will be okay. It will all be okay in the end. I promise,"

"Promise?" Was all Harley could say to Tony.

"Promise," Tony responded with. Harley fell silent, only his silent tears and occasionally sobs filled the room.

Tony waved his hand and Friday understood, putting Hells Kitchen on the two watched the mindless show until the early morning when Pepper was to be home from her trip to California.

"Ms Stark would like me to tell you she is only 10 minutes away and is demanding you get coffee and breakfast ready for her."

"Of course sweetheart. Tell her We will see her soon and we all love her," the two mechanics moved slowly off the couch. They could hear Peter jumping around in his room, clearly excited for Pepper to be home.

The energetic vigilante literally bounced out his room and into the kitchen. He spotted his brother and dad and smiled. His eyes fell to the coffee pot and smiled. Tony looked as well and sighed. It was going to be one of those day's he knew it.

"Fine kid. Have one cup only! And leave some for your mother!" Peer nodded enthusiastically as he poured coffee into a cup and in seconds he inhaled it like it was his lifeline.

Tony and Harley shook their heads. Both loved coffee as well but Peter and Pepper were on different levels of coffee lovers to them.

The three worked on breakfast until Peppers voice filled the room from the elevator. Harley and Peter ran to their mom while Tony watched over the food. He spotted Peters mug and it seemed to have miraculously been refilled since the first time.

"Mom! We've missed you so much! Dads forced us to live on pizza and chips. Not even a salad in sight!" Peter dramatically complained as he placed a hand on his head in a fake faint way.

Harley and Pepper watched the dramatics as they held each other in a sideward hug. It felt more comfortable to the two of them. Peter dropped the dramatics to grab his mom for a hug, making sure not to crush her.

"How many cups you on Pete?"

"One! Wait maybe three? I'm not sure really." He answered as the three walked over to the kitchens where Tony was dishing up food on plates.

Tony kisses his wife as she sat down, passing her a cup of coffee as she grinned at him. She drank it almost as fast as Peter had and Tony refilled it as soon as it was finished.

Harley watched his family. He felt horrible for causing his parents to deal with his issues. If he had died when he was meant to then this wouldn't be an issue. He wouldn't have to be a burden on the family. He wouldn't feel like he was just a kid he adopted for brownie points.

"Kid come here," Tony whispered into his sons ear. Expecting a hug or nod in response he watched curiously as Harley just stared into nothing. If they didn't just have the conversation they did Tony would have guessed he was thinking of blueprints. But he could see his sons eyes fill with sadness again.

Grabbing his hand Tony squeezed it tightly trying to bring him back to the present. After a while he felt a squeeze back. Crisis kind of averted.

"I think I'm going to go lie down. I didn't sleep that great last night," waving to his small family Harley left before he could be questioned. He could feel their stares on his back but he could stay there any more. It was starting to get worse, draining him. He knew this episode was going to be a bad one.

"What was that about Tony?" Was all that was said for a while. Tony didn't know how to answer that one. He didn't even know what happened. Harley seemed okay but changed so suddenly.

"Uhm I'm not actually sure really. I'll go and check on him." Tony said to his wife and son as they looked down the corridor that Harley went down.

"Sir, Harley has put me on lockdown. He says he needs some time alone."

Nope. No alone time until I'm sure he won't hurt himself.

"Fri please watch him for a little bit. I need to talk to Pepper. And tell him I'm talking to her."

"I feel like I should head out to Neds. Maybe until you guys have checked on Harls and all that." Peter shyly spoke up. His energy seemed to have disappeared all too soon for Tony's liking.

"Are you sure sweetie? We don't want you to do anything you don't want to do" Pepper told the teen who just nodded in response. It was eerie how quickly the atmosphere in the house changed.

"I'll make sure to text Happy for a lift home bye love you all!" Was the last thing the adult heard before Peter ran off I to the elevator to the bottom floor.

Tony felt like he had pushed his kids away. One refusing to talk and the other not wanting to stay while something was wrong. It felt like he done wrong.

"Okay. So we have two teenagers. One currently it himself on lockdown and the other fled the awkwardness. Do you want to tell me what's happening?" Pepper asked her husband who just out his head in his hands and sighed.

"Harley came to me last night. He was upset and clearly needing help. So I asked what I could do and he wanted to talk. So we did and then you know he told me he was depressed Pep! Our kid! He was scared to tell us and he's been fighting this for so long I'm scared it might be too late for him to believe we love him and that he can get help." Tony was crying, he didn't last night but it was all coming out as he spoke to Pepper.

Pepper just stared at her husband. Unsure if the response to that. Their kid. Scared to tell them he was depressed. She felt like a failure. Harley and Peter should feel like it was safe to tell them anything. No matter what it was.

"You know what he told me Pep. He told me that he didn't deserve help. That there is people who need it more than him! He kept saying he was sorry and he told me that it wasn't our faults. Nothing was." They we're both crying now. Horrified at the way they made their child feel.

"Did you book an appointment for Jennifer?" Was all Pepper could say through the tears. Tony nodded and Pepper nodded back. They were going to get their kid the best help possible. He deserves it after everything he went through.

"We need to go see him. Tell him how much we love him." Tony explained to Pepper. The two slowly made their way to Harleys door. Knocking softly, enough for Harley to hear. It was silent except for the crying of the two. Then the door clicked signaling that they were allowed in.

They opened it and searched the room for Harley. He was underneath his desk which had been trashed as paper lay in the ground as if it was thrown there.

Almost running Pepper and Tony crouched down beside him and placed their hands on his legs. He looked over to them, eyes red and puffy from crying. Tears running down his face still. Tony's heart broke and he was sure he could hear Peppers brake as well.

Scanning his kid for injuries he spotted what looked like nail scratches all the way up his neck, and looking closely he see some on his wrists. Tony really didn't want to know what else there was but knew he needed too.

"Hey kiddo. I know it's cozy under there but don't you think it would be better on the bed?" Tony asked, trying to inject humor into his voice but it fell flat.

Harley shook his head no, he didn't want to move it was safe under the desk. But Tony and Pepper has just blocked off the exits and he was starting to panic. Tony noticed this. He always did.

"Pep and I are going to move backwards a bit okay? To give you some more space," Pepper nodded and moved slowly backwards, Tony following. They removed their hands but seen the reaction so they replaced them on his legs. It seemed to relax him.

Kind of like the squeezing the hand thing.

"Harley I know you don't want to talk about this but it needs to happen okay. Just so we can brief Jennifer on what's happened okay." Pepper spoke softly. Harley visibly shook as he heard what she said.

“How about you write it down? Then we can look over it. That way you aren’t saying it out loud.” Tony suggested to the teen, who was still shaking. But he nodded his head slightly so that was good.

Tony looked around the room, eyes scanning for paper and pen because he would no doubt want to burn it after. He spotted paper and a green pen laying hazardously on the floor. Bald crawling over he grabbed for them and pulled them over to his body.

Harley looked at it and then back to the floor. His mind was in overdrive as his parents watched on scared. He started to write. Hands shaking. His writing wasn’t his usual perfectly sized, it was all scratchy, various sizes and some uppercase letters thrown in randomly.

If Tony wasn’t terrified for his son then he would marvel at the way his handwriting imitated his thoughts. The more scratchy words seemed to be the worst. Like he was trying to make them unreadable and at the same time unthinkable.

He was writing for what felt like half an hour but in reality it was closer to 3 minutes. He then read over it a few times. Correcting himself when needed and then handed it to Tony and Pepper.

Tony looked at it. There was a lot. He started reading. His heart breaking as he did.

so I know that you know _I’m depressed_ and I can normally deal with these things. <strike>But it’s Bad</strike>. _im thinking of hurting myself more than before._ And It’s making me think of Before you adopted me

And I know you probably don’t care but I really Can’t Do this anymore but I _Don’t DESERVE help._

so basically I kinda am thinking of <strike>suic</strike> IT again.

Sorry. I’m sorry. I tried.

Tony finished reading. He looked at Pepper who didn’t know how to react either. They sat in silence for a few seconds until Harley spoke up.

“I’m sorry. I tried to be better I did. You don’t deserve to deal with all my shit. It’s ruining you guys. I think I need a few days away. Yeah I’ll go visit friends somewhere.” Harley was thinking out loud. His thought process unraveling to the three as he nodded. His tears fell down his face but his voice hardly faltered as he spoke softly.

“Hey sweetheart. Look at me okay. You are loved here, you don’t need to go anywhere because we can deal with this as a family. We will be there for you every single step of the way. And if there is step backwards then we will be there supporting you always. You don’t need to be sorry. You need to understand we are here,” Tony watched as Pepper spoke. She always had a way with words. They melted into a beautiful speech when she spoke, elegant but also homely. It felt domestic and it calmed Tony down immensely.

“But you have so many other things to do. Running the company being a hero, you have Peter and then you’ve got Happy, Rhodey, and the others. They need help more than me. They are superheroes and I’m just nobody. I’m okay.”

“Zucca it’s okay to not be okay. It’s okay to be selfish, to demand attention because you need it. We will take time off and noting will fall because people are taking care of it. We need to take care of you because I hate how you are feeling and you don’t deserve it at all. No matter what you think you did to deserve it,”

“You don’t know what I did.” His voice was dark, cold. And it made Tony and Pepper look at their son in sudden surprise.

“We don’t. But we will always listen and see why you think you deserve to feel like this. Because Harley you are amazing. You’ve engineered so many advancements in mechanics. You have helped Peter come into this family more. You have always been someone who can help others. You are a great human being and no matter your past that won’t change.” Pepper replies, masking her surprise we’ll with a calming voice. One she used to lull them to sleep after nightmares.

“You’ll hate me. I do for it,”

“We would never hate you Harls. Never,”

“You really will and I don’t want to ruin this yet. I can’t, I need you guys to much. I need Peter. And you’ll not want me anymore after you hear it.”

“If you don’t want to tell us we aren’t going to force it. We love you so much and Peter loves you too. We would never want to get rid of you ever. But if you want you can tell Jennifer, she can rationalize how you feel more. Because my hypothesis is. You have to much thoughts in your head and the ones you don’t like are overpowering the nice good ones. And the more bad thoughts the worse you feel. Is that sort of right?” Tony asked. Voice full of love for his son.

Harley nodded. It was like Tony could read his thoughts and explain it better than he even knew how to think about it. His intrusive bad thoughts always overpowered the once that we’re good. The more intrusive thoughts led to more depression which led to more intrusive thoughts. A viscous cycle that had no end.

“Yeah I’ll talk to Jennifer. Can she get me arrested or anything? Or is there something she can’t know. What if I accidentally tell her about Peter being Spider-Man. What if she thinks I’m insane and puts me in hospital. I don’t want to go to ho-“

“Harley please stop overthinking this. It is one appointment for tomorrow morning. You can write things down and then burn them after it you can go in wanting to talk. It is for you to vent and to see if she can help at all. We will be outside waiting for you when finish. And if you want we can order pizza, curl up on the couch and watch shit tv shows. Or you can go to your room for quiet time. You choose,” Tony cut his sons overthink ramble off. Explains how it would work for him to feel more at ease over this.

“Yeah I guess I mean it makes sense. I’ll write things down and then burn them. Making sure no one can see them except me and her. And then I’ll come back up and we can do something or I can have down time. Yeah makes sense okay. Yep I’ll do that,” He continued to ramble his way through speaking, letting how nervous he really was show. He only rambled when he was nervous or tired. And this was probably a mix off both.

“You are probably shattered because you got hardly any sleep last night and according to Friday none the night before. So we are going to go into the living room and have a cuddle fest if you want,”

“Yeah. I need cuddles. Need to know you are here,”

“Okay. We will go and let Peter know he can come back if you want him too,”

“Yeah I need my brother,” Tony could see that wasn’t all of what he was thinking hit let it slide because he would be close to him tonight and then he would speak to Jennifer tomorrow. He would have someone near him all the time- hopefully.

“Okay. You get changed into something more comfortable and we’ll get Peter back home.” Pepper and Tony slowly stood up. Keeping distance to not scare Harley more than they already have.

The two walked out of Harley’s room and let out a breathe they had been holding. Both terrified for their kid. They knew that dealing with depression wasn’t easy and it never would be but they could at least try and ease some pressure off him a little bit.

“Baby file for and phone Peter for me please,” Tony whispered. Knowing his A.I. heard him. The ringing of a phone call vibrates through the speakers. A few rings then Peter picked up.

“Hey cucciolo how are you?” Tony and Pepper could hear the frown from the nickname Tony gave him.

“I’m okay. With Ned right now. How’s Harley?” His voice was restricted like he was stopping himself from crying.

“He’s better kiddo. But he is asking for you to come home and he’s stressed about his past. Any chance you could come back?”

“Yeah I’ll head over in a minute. Tell him I’ll be back sooner than he knows.” Peter hung up the phone. But Pepper and Tony both head the way his voice lit up when he was told Harley asked for him.

It was cute how close the two were. First they we’re close because of their background but now they are almost inseparable until situations like these. Maybe Peter also needed an appointment with Jennifer to deal with these emotions because he is a superhero in New York who faces death quite a lot. He’s faced so much horror on his life as well. Maybe he should have made two appointments. One for each.

“I can’t believe he hung up on you,” Harley said from behind the two. He was smiling softly but they all knew it was fake, a mask he put on.

“Either kid. Either,” Tony replied as he pulled Harley close to him and into a hug. The three walked into the living area and sat down on the couch. Almost sitting in each other as they discussed tv shows to watch.

Peter came crashing through an open window only ten minutes later. His suit half off as they could see his ‘civilian outfit’ as he called it. Tony shook his head and pointed to his room meaning ‘shower now you stink’. He hung his head in shame as Pepper chuckled at the sight. Only 15 minutes later he was emerging from the room, cozy jammies MJ had bought him, a cover and his smell back to pleasant.

The family of four sat on the couch. Basically on top of each other as they tried to milk the familiar contact they each craved. Harley tell asleep around 3am and Peter followed at 3:30 am. Tony and Pepper stayed up until 5am watching the show and their kids. Handing running through knotted hair to relaxe.

Even if they were broken they still had each other no matter what.


	11. Please give Peter a Hug

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You know what, fuck Skip Wescott. 
> 
> Triggers; talk of child rape, self hatred, and dark pasts.

Peter yawned. He didn't mean it but it just happened. He played it off as if it was nothing, a stretch from the position he had been sitting in for hours now. He really did need to sleep soon but didn't want to break the silence in the lab.

  
Tony of course seem the yawn and smiled at him. He had invited Peter over for the weekend to work on the Spidey suit as he nicknamed it. It started as a way to help ease his guilt after the Homecoming incident but after that well it kind of stuck and every second weekend Peter was over and they would work on a project or watch a movie together.

He had introduced him to Harley, his son, and the two hit it off straight away, almost to well for Tony to like. Lost in thought for a minute or two Tony didn't seem to realize that Peter literally collapsed onto the floor. But he did notice the boy on the floor and rushed over to him.

"Friday vitals please!" He shouted as he sunk to his knees beside Peter , checking for injuries he hit or anything to tell him what happened.

"Peter seems to be physically okay. He however is suffering for sleep exhaustion, my guess is at least a week. I recommend you move him to his room and let him sleep," The A.I. explained to Tony as he shook beside Peter.

"A week? That's my record. Has he been diagnosed with insomnia or is this something else sweetheart?"

He carefully picked Peter up, scared at how light he was but that was another issue to deal with.

"He has not been diagnosed but since the bite Spider-Man has been seen almost every single night from 10pm-4am. It I had to guess he receives around 2 hours sleep a night and this week none," Tony held the boys body close as he walked across the labs floor to the elevator doors.

"Fuck kid, it's going to be okay," Tony sighed as the elevator door opened, Friday took them to the penthouse floor.

"Shall I access Karen and look over footage to see how long he has gone without sleep before?"

_Is that invasion of privacy? It is Peters Spidey suit but he did make it and Peter knew he had access to the footage created._

"Uhh yeah please sweetheart," Tony located Peters door and pushed it open. Looking in the room he sighed, Peter had created a web hammock or three all slung around the room. He had left his homework scattered around the floor and it looked like a bunch of blueprints were thrown in a pile in the corner.

Tony gently placed Peter on his bed, covering him in covers and putting on his white noise machine. With a quick smile at the teenager Tony wandered out and into the kitchen. He knew it wasn't going to be a good night for sleeping. It never was when Pepper was away.

"Okay Friday let's look through all of this shit and sort it,"he started to make some coffee, grabbing a mug and apple as it brewed.

"Of course sir. I'll compile all evidence of Peter being awake for more than 5 days on your tablet."

Tony smiled and nodded in thanks, he knew Friday would see it. He waited a couple seconds for the coffee to finish and then poured it into the mug he had. Taking the mug and apple to the couch he sat down with a sigh and picked up his tablet.

"Okay. How many files is it?" He asked, coffee and tablet balancing on his lap carefully.

"Around 47 sir," her voice spoke calmly, but Tony could hear the sadness in it.

"Fuck" he whispered softly, eyes scanning the screen as they were pulled up.

Clicking the first one he scanned the video fast, Peter was up doing patrolling and homework the first night. On the phone to Ned the second night and was impersonating Thor for a bit of it. The third night however was different. He was laying in bed, eyes focused on the roof above. Occasionally he would move his leg or hand showing Tony that he was awake still. The fourth night he was talking to Karen. Asking for help to sleep, he sounded pained but Tony didn't see why.

The fifth night however was the worst. Peter was shaking, his hands couldn't stay still as he tried to write something down. Then he jumped to his ceiling and stared walking around muttering formulas to try and force himself to sleep. He didn't sleep that night and it killed Tony to see him practice his fake smiles in the mirror for the day to come.

"Friday only pull up footage like the last two nights of this one please," Tony asked as he started at the kid shaking still as he left the mask behind.

"Of course sir. My search has narrowed down to 26 files including the one you just watched. All have been speed up until the bits you may want to see,"

Tony clicked the first one, his eyes watching hi- the kid speed around the room until it slowed. Friday put a time marker on the screen showing 3:43am.

Peter stopped suddenly staring at his bed. He was trying to shake his head but couldn't, like he was stuck in the space he inhabited. Then he fell. Tony didn't even realize it was the roof until after and by the looks of Peters face in the video he didn't either.

The next night was filled with crying, the silent kind which hurt Tony so much. He didn't even realize how much Peter was hurting, he could have helped the kid but he didn't.

"Friday what's the longest he's stayed up?"

"My search says 9 days. He then collapsed out of exhaustion and dehydration,"

"Fuck. Fuck. Okay how can we help him? What can we do. What can I do? I'm Tony Stark I can fix anything. He needs help and I help people,"

_He's The Mechanic. He's supposed to have answers and he needs to help people. If he doesn't he's useless and his kids will leave him. They would see how useless he was._

"Boss I advise you to ground yourself. You are in Stark Tower, the date is May 5th 2018. You are Tony Stark, in Stark Tower and today is May 5th 2018. You are safe, sir. Everyone in the tower is safe."

Tony breathed. Deep breaths, in and out. Friday's voice was keeping him present in his surroundings. After about five minutes of Friday repeating her mantra and Tony reminding himself to breathe he was feeling a bit better.

"Friday book Peter an appointment with Jennifer please. Make it a few days from now so I can tell him about it. Also inform legal we need NDAs for him to sign. Get the one I like to do it, Emily. And next please send May a message asking her to phone me when she can."

Tony rattled of a list of things for Friday to takedown, knowing she would. He needed to know what May knew and maybe Peter talked to her about it. If not he was obviously keeping it from everyone. What about Ned?

Tony stayed up the rest of the night researching, trying to be better for his kids. Around 9am Harley woke up. He nodded at Tony before heading to the kitchen for breakfast. He put bread into the toaster and waited patiently for it to pop. Tony still watching home silently. It was something they were both used to at this point. Harley made food and after talked to him for a bit. Neither questioned the other if it was really early or if the other looked horrible and hadn't slept. It was calming.

"You doing anything fun today kid?" He asked, running a hand through his hair as he stretched from the comfortable couch.

"Don't think so. Got to go and see Natasha for a bit then might see if Peter is up for something today."

"That sounds fun. About Peter actually has he mentioned having trouble sleeping to you?"

_Very smooth Tony._

"Not much why?" Harley was a terrible liar, always fidgeting and looking away as he lied. And he was doing both of those things right now.

"You really shouldn't play poker Har, and it's because I've been informed by a little birdy that he hasn't been sleeping for a week. Any idea why?" Harley's face fell into sadness before being replaced by annoyance.

"He's such a liar. He told me it was a few days," Harley admitted to his dad as he looked annoyed at Peter. He harshly ripped a piece of toast off and ate it.

"So do you have any idea on why he has been staying up? Tony asked again. More hopeful for an answer this time.

"Just the usual dad. Nightmares, stress you know." Tony again spotted the lies.

"And is that it?" Tony questioned again as Harley finished his toast.

"You know it isn't. But I'm not telling you because it's not my place. If you want to know go ask him yourself." Harley stood up and walked to the kitchen to put his dirty plate In the dishwasher.

Tony knew he pushed a bit to much on this topic so nodded in understanding. "Sorry kid. I'm just trying to get the full picture."

"I get it. But try talk to him. He wants to talk to you but is scared so be gentle."

"Okay. Thank you Harley. Now off to see Tasha then maybe we can go for ice cream later."

Harley left the home with a wave and smile as Tony headed down the hall into Peters room. He was still sleeping and looked so peaceful as he did. All his stress and anxiety gone as he dreamed. Tony could only hope it was good dreams.

Leaving Peter to sleep more, Tony headed back to the living area and worked on a few blueprints until Friday informed him that Peter was up. Soon after that Peter came walking down the hall in his clothes and rubbing his hands over his face.

"Hey kiddo. How you feeling?" Tony asked from the couch. Peter spotted him and smiled but Tony knew it was fake. He could see his eyes holding no emotion.

"I'm good. Sorry for falling asleep last night. I didn't mean to Mr Stark. I promise it won't happen again." By now Tony knew to let Peter fully apologize before telling him it wasn't necessary.

"It isn't your fault. Nothing to be sorry for kid but we do need to talk about something,"

Peter froze. His mind running a hundred miles per minute as he was trying to think about where this conversation could go. And all his possibilities were not looking good.

"Stop overthinking this Petey. Just a little talk about your sleeping patterns,"

Peter went white as a sheet. He tried to stop his body shaking but couldn't.

"Okay Peter lets take a second away from that. Can you tell me where we are?"

Peter looked around the room. His mind trying to understand where he was. Was he in danger? Then he seen Tony. Tony would protect him.

"Tower?" His voice replied shaking. He couldn't stop the shaking no matter how hard he tried.

"Yeah well done Peter. Can you tell me a few things you can see in the room?"

Again Peter scanned the room. His eyes stopping on things occasionally.

"The window, couch, tv, you and the light." His voice was starting to sound more stable as he spoke.

"That's right kid. You are safe with me okay, no ones in danger," Tony spoke softly as he held Peter in his arms.

"Harley and me. You will protect us. Protect us. Always will. Won't leave,"

Tony's heart broke. He knew that his two kids had suffered terribly before he met them. Harley was in and out of foster care, never having a permanent. Peter had suffered so much death in his family. Only having May left. And it hurt to be reminded that he wasn't always there for them. But it what made them and it allowed them to come into his life. So he was, in a way, grateful for it all, but at the same time he hated it so much.

"Okay. You good for talking about it kid?"

Peter let the question hang for a second, obviously racking his brain for answers to the easy question.

"Yeah. But not all of it please. I don't think I can yet," Tony could hear the pain in Peters voice. Something that made him want to hold him and Harley close and never let anyone near them ever again.

"Okay. What do you want to talk about? He floor is yours," Tony let Peter lead the conversation. Something that was probably wise for this situation.

"What do you already know?" Peter asked after a while.

"I know you haven't been sleeping great and that's a pattern. No clue why or any of that," Tony replied truthfully, Peter nodded as he tried to word his next few words.

"I mean yeah that's true but I know why. And I don't k ow how to tell you but I can kind of show you?" His voice was so soft and unsure of what he was saying. Tony didn't understand but nodded anyway.

"So you know how my parents died. And then Ben did. Well when those dates come closer I don't usually sleep well but then add in my other trauma. And well yeah sleep doesn't really work."

Tony understood some of it, parents and Ben he knew about. But he had those dates in the diary and they didn't come up for a couple of months. So his 'other trauma' was the cause of this one obviously.

"Do you want to explain the other trauma?"

Peter watched the ground for a minute, eyes searching for something I focus on before sighing and looking back at Tony.

"Well I had a friend. A baby sitter really, he was-" Peter stopped and breathed deeply then continued. "He was older, like 18 maybe 19 when I knew him. I was 10 and May and Ben wanted to go on a date night so he stayed with me. It was fun at first. We played games, watched movies. But then it changed. He was rude, mean."

Tony watched Peter cry and was soon putting two and two together.

"He then said that he would be nice if I done things for him. He made me let him-" Peter let out a sob. He fell into Tony's arms and cried for a few minutes until he shakily continued the story.

"He made me let him touch me and then it escalated. He used me Tony. He raped me at fucking ten years old. Then he told me May and Ben would never love me if I told them. So I didn't. Not for a few years, he was my babysitter and he abused me every single time. May and Ben found out because they fame home early one day,"

Tony was crying as Peter spoke. His kid was hurt and he didn't even know this. He wanted to kill the fucker who done this to his sweet kid. 

"What happened to him sweetheart?"

"May and Ben filed charges against him. He got jail for a few years then a few other kids spoke out about him. Overall he got 17 years. He might get parole though and he can get that after 6 years. Which is this year and it's stressing me out,"

Tony looked back at his kid. His abuser could get out this year and he didn't even know. How?

"Peter I'm so sorry. Nothing I say can help you with this but know I'm always here for you if you need to talk about it or even cry over something okay. That fucker deserves everything that happened to him in that case.”   
  


Peter doesn’t reply. He doesn’t know how too. 

  
“Does Harley know?”

“Yeah I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for him to find out. He was talking to me one night and it just came out. I’m sorry.”

“Why are you sorry? It’s not your fault,”

“You don’t want me around him anymore. You probably think I’m disgusting. I’ll leave. I didn’t mean it. I’m sorry. I’m sorry,”

“Peter breathe okay, you need to breathe. It is not your fault. It will never be your fault ever. He used you in ways I don’t want to think about but it’s over now okay. Just because people have hurt you doesn’t mean you can’t be better than them.”

“I guess. But what if he tries to talk to me again. Or what if he tried to...” it hung in the air. Both knew what he meant but they couldn’t finish that sentence.

“Let him try” Tony replied darkly. He knew he wouldn’t be alone in killing the fucker. Tasha has a thing against rapists and a child rapist with the child being her nephew? He would never breathe again.

“It’s okay Tony. I’m okay. Please don’t hurt him. He’ll get someone to come hurt me,” Tony watched his kid slowly. He was trying to make himself smaller and it was working. He looked so small and innocent like that.

“It’ll be okay kid. No one can hurt you ever again. I’ll keep you safe,” Peter nodded at this. Tony breathed softly as they lay in peace for a few minutes.

“I forgot. I booked you an appointment with Jennifer. A few days from now. Maybe she can help you with healthy sleeping patterns or something like that. You only need to go to one appointment but if you keep going that’s great,” Tony said, smiling at his kid in an attempt to help him.

“Thanks? I guess. I mean I know I probably need the help.” Peter said, unsure of what to say at this.

“It’s okay kid. Now Harley was talking about ice cream earlier. Fancy a bite to eat before it?” Peter laughed at this, both knowing it was Tony who wanted the ice cream.

“Yeah. I like that.” Peter replied in his soft voice Tony was used to. It hurt knowing everything he did but at least he was talking to people about it.

“Okay. Let’s get up and have breakfast before your brother comes wreaking damage again.” He didn’t even catch the use of brother because it felt so natural for them to be brothers.

“Okay dad. Let’s go then.” Peter smiled at the new word. He hadn’t had a dad in a while and felt comfortable with calling Tony dad.

The two are a good breakfast off bacon and eggs before Harley walked back in and smiled. The three headed out for ice cream and laughed at their dads stupid jokes. Their small family.


	12. Tony needs a Hug please

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I mean it take place during Infinity Wae to Endgame, Tony is sad and Morgan misses the brother she never met.

Tony looked at the table, only a couple years ago it would have been filled with noise and commentary from one Peter Benjamin Parker. But now it sits empty, a memory of the boy he lost.

Tony shook his head, dragging the palm of his hand across his face to wake himself up. He couldn’t sleep, not yet he still had to finish the clean water project.

“Sir, it has been 51 hours without sleep. I insist you sleep or rest.” FRIDAYs voice was calm, but her worry was evident. Tony ignored her.

His gaze was once again drawn back to the table. Sighing and admitting he wasn’t going to finish work that night he walked over to Peters desk. His eyes flew across the work he had already memorized, nothing changed from the last time he had been there.

Logically he knew he had to move on, he had Pepper and Morgan. He had Rhodey, Happy, and May. But he missed his kid. His funny, amazing, genius kid. His Peter Parker.

They didn’t talk about him much. Sure Morgan knew about her big brother but only how much he would have loved her nothing else. She didn’t know about Spider-Man. She didn’t know that he sacrificed himself for her and everyone else. She didn’t know that he died in Tony’s arms. She didn’t need to know.

  
Tony picked up the frame he made Peter. It was when they tried to convince May that he wasn’t Spider-Man and was really an intern. Peter was holding the SI document the wrong way, both of them held ears behind the others head. It was a moment where they were happy, and carefree. One of the last times that happened. It was only 2 weeks after the photo when Thanos happened. Only 2 weeks after when Peter turned to dust in his arms, leaving him alone and scared in an alien world. 

“Sir. Mrs Stark is asking for you. She’s worried,” FRIDAYs voice was gentle, caring and Tony held in a sob. She sounded like Peter when she said that. Always so formal and Tony would kill to hear Peter say ‘Mr Stark’ one more time.

“I’m okay Fri. I just miss him so fucking much. He was a great kid. Would have loved Morgan. They would have gotten in so well,”

“They would have Sir,” FRIDAY let him speak, she may have been an AI but she was smart enough to know Tony hasn’t probably grieved. He had threw himself back to work without letting his mind understand that Peter was gone.

As Tony cried, he carried the photo back to his desk. Shutting the computers down he headed to the living area. Pepper wanted him and he would be there for his family.

~~

The next morning he lay in his bed. He knew it wasn’t going to be a good day and Pepper understood that too. May was going to be coming over for dinner, no one wanted her to be alone for too long. She lost her last family, but she gained more along the way.

“Good Morning Sir. The day is August 20th 2020. The weather today is predicted to be a warm breeze with the hottest being 79.4°F. Mrs Stark has taking the day off from work and is currently in the kitchen with Mini Stark.”

The date stung. It was like a hot knife had stabbed him through the heart multiple times and no one helped him. His breathing faltered and he tired to find energy but he couldn’t. Not today.

His thinking was disturbed when he heard his door crack open and spotted Morgan peering through.

“Daddy! Mommy said today was a sad day and you might need hugs, do you need hugs?” Her face was young, bright and untouched by the harshness of real life. Something Tony never had as a child.

“Yeah sweetie today’s a sad day. It’s your brothers birthday today.” Tony explained, moving over to give Morgan room in the bed.

“Peter?” She asked, unsure on how to speak about such a difficult topic.

“Yeah Peter. He was amazing, a little genius in chemistry and everything he tried. He was going to become the owner of SI. He was going to make the world a better place and in the time he was here he did. He was kind and caring. You would never find a moment where he wasn’t being kind to others.” Tony spoke softly as he held his daughter to his chest. Scared that she would turn to dust like Peter had done. It was terrifying not knowing what was going to happen.

“He sounds nice. I wish I met him,” her frown was evident in her voice, even if Tony couldn’t see it.

“I wish you met him to kiddo. I wish you did too.” Tony fell back into his thinking, the way Peter lit up a room as he walked in, a smile on his face no matter what he endured. He was someone you went to for problems but he never once asked for help (Tony knew when he needed it though). Peter Parker was selfless and Tony Stark missed him like nothing else.

“Happy Birthday Peter. We love you,” Tony let out a sob as Morgan spoke to the picture in the unit. She didn’t understand why he was crying but held him in a hug as he did. She vowed there and then to never leave her dad alone because he would miss her like he missed Peter. 


	13. Letters to Future and Past

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter Parker’s life from Letters to Tony Stark.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Triggers: Talk of death, mental health problems.

To Mr Iron Man Date: 04/17/2007

Hello Mr Iron Man Sir, my name is Peter Parker. I am 5 years old and you are my favorite hero in the whole world! 

My teacher Miss Flowers is helping me write this and then we will send it to you. Maybe you'll answer! We could talk science together and then we can play with robots. I like robots. My daddy used to make robots with me but he had to go away with mommy. 

I miss my mommy and daddy but auntie May and uncle Ben say they are safe and missing me too. 

Mr Iron Man Sir why do people leave us? Why can't they stay forever until we all grown old and die? I shouldn't know what dying is because everyone says I am to small but I know what it is. It's not that scary really because everyone you love is there. 

I have to go now. Bye Mr Iron Man Sir. 

From Peter Parker

Dear Mr Iron Man Sir. Date: 09/17/2008

Hello again Mr Iron Man Sir! It's Peter Parker again. I don't know if you got my last letter but I'm writing again because it's write to your hero day. Most of this others are writing to Captain America or Thor. But you are my favorite still. 

You are soooo cool. You have a cool suit which makes you fly and you can carry so much! The others are boring, just one power. You have so many powers! Can you turn invisible? How would you do that? Maybe you could do it and show the world. But if you did we wouldn't be able to see you so you can't do that. That would be silly. 

If I had powers it would be able to save everyone! I would swing about the world and save people from danger. That would be so awesome. Maybe we would team up!! Imagine that. I don't know what my name would be though. Something cool. But not scary. I don't like scary things. The scariest thing is Spiders. They are small and crawl over you and bite you. I don't like being bitten. May and Ben can't get medicine to make me better when I get sick. We don't have that much money. But I love them anyway. No matter what. 

Do you love anyone Mr Iron Man Sir? Loving people makes me happy. 

I'm going again Mr Iron Man Sir. Bye!

From Peter Parker 

Dear Mr Iron Man Sir. Date: 06/08/2010

Today was my 8th Birthday! We went to the Stark Expo and you saved me!! After the bad people came and tried to hurt us I got lost. It was really scary but then I held out my arm to blast a bad robot when you were behind me and said good job too me! 

Auntie May and Uncle Ben said it was bad that I tried to hurt someone but they were crying when they found me. I think I made them upset. I was too. It was really scary but I'm okay. 

I hope you are too. You and Mr James Rhodes took care of the bad guys but you got hurt I think. That's what the big people on TV said. May doesn't like me watching the TV she said it will rot my brain. But I wanted to know if you were okay. I hope you are. 

Well that's all I wanted to say. You won't write back but I hope you are better. 

From Peter Parker. Your number 1 fan

To Mr Tony Stark. Aka Mr Iron Man Sir.  
Date: 07/27/2013

Hello again. It's been a few years since I last wrote one of these. But it felt right today. You saved New York last year but you fell from the sky. It was from space and I don't know how you lived but I hope you feel better now. 

Ben died last week. He was trying to save me from a robber. He came to the shops when we were there and Ben wouldn't let him get away. He was killed when I held him. May keeps saying it isn't my fault but it was Mr Stark. He was coming to get me. I ran out of the house. It was to much in there. They got me a doctors appointment because my brain keeps telling me things that aren't real. 

But I don't know what's real and what isn't anymore. It's like a nightmare I can't wake up from. I'm scared and I know you would know what to do. 

I hope you are better and I wish you the best.  
Peter Parker. 

Mr Stark. Date: 09/28/2017

So Homecoming just happened. And I know you know what happened but I just want you to know that I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for that to happen. I nearly killed Toomes. I nearly broke your plane. I’m sorry Mr Stark. 

I did get the alien technology though. I made sure Happy got it. And I since you won’t read these ever I just gotta say you helped me survive this. 

I was nearly dying under that warehouse when I heard you telling me that if I ‘wasn’t anything without the suit then I couldn’t have it’. You made me realize I was Spider-Man without having the suit so thanks. 

I’ve got to go now. Have to talk to Liz and tell her how sorry I am for ditching her at HoCo. MJ said i should bring flowers. Need to pick them up. Anyway, thanks Mr Stark. Even if you hate me right now. 

Peter Parker. 

To Tonyyyyy. Date: 12/24/2018

Merry Christmas Eve!! God it’s been a year and a bit since I last wrote a letter to you. Homecoming was the last I think. Anyway enough rambling. 

I’m writing this as I literally lie in my room in the Tower. That’s stupid right? I could easily come and tell you what I’m feeling. But alas, I shall not because these letters are stupid. 

I’ve got you a present but it’s pretty bad so I don’t know how you’ll like it. Maybe I shouldn’t give you it. But then it’s stupid because I wouldn’t have anything to give you. I made Pepper a perfume with the sciencey knowledge you’ve taught me this last year. Hopefully she likes it. I made May this bracelet which lets her see date, time and all the usual. But also photos and messages from Ben when she needs It. I think she’ll like it. 

I got you almost the same think but it links to my bracelet and Peppers so you can message us if you need to. But it also has a panic button which if programmed you can get the Iron Man suit to link to it. Maybe it will help in the future. 

It’s now midnight so I guess it’s Christmas. Merry Christmas Tony. And I hope the rest are filled with happiness and love. 

Love Peter Parker. 

Tony! Date: 01/01/2019

Happy New Years Tony! And this year my resolution is to tell people how much I care. It’s been a while since I was able to do that properly. Gotta Start in this letter though because it terrifies me. 

So here goes. Mr Stark you are amazing and I love you so much. You are someone I look up to and I see you as a father figure. 

Hopefully that wasn’t too forward but you won’t ever read these so it doesn’t matter. I think I’m going to ask MJ to dinner after our MOMA trip. We are going to see all the art and MJ was talking about this diner she wants to try. It’ll be awesome. 

Also!!! I had the weirdest dream. You and Pepper had a baby and she was named Morgs. Or something like that. Can’t remember the specifics. Anyway I was just writing to clear my head. 

Wish you luck in the future. Love Peter

To Mr Tony Stark. Date: 04/06/2024

Hey Tony. It’s been a year since the war. A year since the whole world came back except you. I just thought I would write to you again. I used to do these as a kid a lot. It helped me. So here goes. 

In my first letter I asked if you could tell me why people died. Why do they? Almost 20 years later and I still don’t know the answer. I also said Iron Man was my favorite hero. But I think I was wrong. My favorite hero was Tony Stark and always will be. 

I used to idolize Iron Man and then I realized that the man in the suit was so much better. He was intelligent, funny, kind. The man in the suit with a heart that shone as brightly as the sun itself. 

The man in the suit saved us all and for that there is no repayment. You saved me. You saved May, Pepper, Morgan, Happy. You saved the world. Thank you Mr Stark. Thank you for being the hero I always looked up too. You made me a better person before we even officially meet and if I am half the man you were then I would be lucky. 

I’ll look after them Tony. I’ll looks after the family you made and the world. It will be an honor to follow your footsteps. 

Dear Peter Parker. Date: 06/08/2020

Happy Birthday kid. May forwarded an image of all these to me today and I just finished reading them. God kid. You were such an amazing kid. 

Let’s start with letter 1. You were my favorite hero too kid, always will be. And to answer your question, I don’t know why people die. If I did I would know how to save them. I would be able to save you. But I can’t Peter. I don’t know what to do. 

Letter 2. Sorry to burst your bubble kid but you did get bit by a spider and did get named after it. The comedy from that alone made me laugh. That’s a first. You were right though. I am the best hero-next to you of course. You are the best. And I do love people. I love you, Pepper, Happy, May, Rhodey, and so many more people. I just wish we had them all back.

Letter 3. Happy very late 8th Birthday Peter. And I just gotta say, even before the bite you were a hero. You were so brave that day and if you were here I would make sure you never left my sight after learning about that. What do they say. You can take the powers out the kid but never the hero in them. I’m proud of you Peter. You were amazing hat day and every single day after. 

Letter 4. I’m sorry your mental health issues started there. I wish I could turn back time and save Ben. Save you. But I can’t Peter. I don’t know what to do either. We are both stuck in time grieving for someone lost to time. But trust me you will get better from there. The only place to go is up. 

Letter 5. Peter Benjamin Parker when did you get stuck under a warehouse??? I’m so sorry I wasn’t able to help you. I know how much HoCo damaged you mentally and physically. I really hope I made up for it in the time we had together. Don’t be sorry about anything Kid. You were so amazing in that situation. You took out a gun dealer, you stopped Alien tech getting into the wrong hands and didn’t kill anyone in doing so. That’s brave, something I’ve never done. I’m proud of you kid. 

Letter 6. The letters aren’t stupid Peter. They are helping you and me deal with the loss. I loved the present. We all loved them. I never take it off, we were able to get nanotechnology to link with it and it saved my life many times. May still wears her and so does Pepper. We love them Peter. Merry Christmas Peter. 

Letter 7. I love you too Peter. I always have and always will. You never got that diner with Nj but she felt the same way. I could see it in her eyes when she looked at you. The only thing that I am grateful in you dusting is the fact MJ and Ned also dusted. That might sound horrible and rude but I didn’t want to see them graduate and move on from you. Hopefully that makes sense. 

And you were right. Pepper was pregnant. She gave birth to a baby girl, we named her Morgan Parker Howard Stark. We named her after you and my father since Peps wanted that name too. I don’t know how you seen that happening but you were right kid. You have a baby sister and she’s going to grow up and know all about her brave big brother. 

I miss you Peter and I love you so much. I’m trying to bring you back but it’s difficult. Nothing is working and I know you would tell me to take a break and come back to it. I can hear you in everything I do. Morgan is starting to get an attitude as well. For a baby that is. 

I love you Peter Parker and we will see each other again. 

Love Mr Tony Stark Sir!


End file.
